this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. boris johnson comes under fire for reportedly claiming that devolution of power for scotland has been a "disaster". ministers say it's the scottish national party the uk prime minister opposes, not devolution itself. what he feels strongly, and i would agree, is devolution in scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp, and that is trying to break apart the united kingdom. these comments just to underline the contempt that boris johnson and the tories at westminster has for the people of scotland making the

choices. the scottish government is set to announce whether the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed across west scotland. ministers indicate it's too early to say what restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. and if you'd like to get in touch about this or any of our other stories then you can contact me at @annita—mcveigh, #bbcyourquestions. easyjet posts pre—tax losses of £1.3 billion — its first annual loss in the airline's 25—year history. fears for thousands fleeing ethiopia as the prime minister says a military operation in the northern region of tigray is entering its final phase. indian factory workers supplying some major british supermarkets say they are being routinely exploited. we have a special investigation. and coming up this hour... 27 hours after blast off, the dragon spacex capsule successfully docks with the international space station.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. uk prime minister borisjohnson has been criticised for reportedly calling devolution of powers for scotland "a disaster". during a call with a group of conservative mps, he is said to have described it as former prime minister tony blair's "biggest mista ke". scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, said the comments would be remembered the next time the tories insisted they were not a threat to the powers of the scottish parliament. the housing secretary robertjenrick insisted mrjohnson supported devolution, but not when it was used by nationalists to try

to break up the uk. the scottish national party mp drew hendry said he was not surprised by the prime minister's comments. clearly they are desperately spinning to try to get themselves back out of this revelation, that evenif back out of this revelation, that even if you take it at face value they are effectively saying it is ok for the scottish people to have devolution so long as they vote for the westminster party we want them to vote for. i think that holds water. the scottish people have seen what has happened, they have been ignored throughout the brexit process despite voting overwhelmingly to remain in the eu, they had seen all the actions of this internet internal market bill which have stripped pellets from scotla nd which have stripped pellets from scotland and have given the secretary of state. travel business, energy and industrial strategy the ability to overrule the scottish parliament on issues from public

health to food standards, the nhs, transport and much more. these commentsjust transport and much more. these comments just expose that you a wider audience. our scotland correspondent, james shaw is in glasgow. we know what the snp thinks of what the prime minister has reportedly said, what next —— but what attempt has been to explain his comments by scottish conservatives? some leading members of the conservative party in scotla nd members of the conservative party in scotland will say that boris johnson is not disrespecting devolution, he was making a point about the way the snp is running scotland and the fact that they are pushing as hard as they can for a second independence referendum after scottish elections in may, but on the other hand some conservatives will be putting their heads in their hands at what they will see as a free case to the

opposition. apparently boris johnson undermining 20 years of the devolution settlement in scotland. whether or not that is what he intended when he made those remarks ona intended when he made those remarks on a zoom conversation with conservative mps yesterday evening or not, that is the message that is coming out and i think as we just got a sense of, we can expect the snp to make use of what the prime minister said to further their own agenda which is ultimately scottish independence. how much of a political gift nz to the snp, especially the scottish parliamentary elections due next may. the snp leader, first minister scotland, nicola sturgeon, she tweeted very quickly after these remarks came out yesterday that she would be bookmarking them, and i think what she meant it she will be returning to them possibly again and again to try to drive home that snp

message that the westminster conservative government, as they see edge, does not care about scotland, does not understand scotland. it is a question as to how that message will land with the electorate in scotla nd will land with the electorate in scotland that it is to that independence is increasingly becoming a popular option, poles had suggested over and above months that more than 50% of those people who expressed a preference as to the union or independence were starting to move in favour of the option of independence. sankey very much, james shaw in glasgow. —— thank you very much. downing street officials have insisted the prime minister's comments have been misunderstood, as our political correspondent chris mason explained. there has been an attempt to finesse the prime minister's position from downing street sources said that meeting last night, a zoom meeting because the prime minister is incarcerated in downing street in self isolation. he was meeting the northern

research group of conservative mps, some of them told us that he said devolution had been a disaster north of the border and it was tony blair's biggest mistake. since then, sources have suggested he is a fan of devolution, what he did not like what the snp desire, as he sees it, she went scotland out of the uk. to wrench scotland out. this is a quite explosive, incendiary remarks. we are about five months away from scottish parliament elections, the snp are polling well and if they secure a majority some in the party want another independent referendum next year. that power rests legally with borisjohnson, to have a referendum, but politically how do you stop it happening if the snp have a mandate? let's listen to communities secretary for england robert jenrick, who was out and about this morning trying to publicly make sense of what the

prime minister said. the prime minister has always supported devolution, he wants to make sure that local people and communities have control over their own destiny, whether in default administrations or within england through the devolution to regional mayors. —— whether that isn't devolved administrations. he feels strongly, and i would agree, that devolution in scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp and it is trying to break apart the united kingdom, and anybody like the prime minister who loves the uk and wants to keep it together thinks that is a very dangerous and disappointing outcome that we need battle against. chris, we will be talking much more about devolution throughout the programme but for a moment let's focus on lockdown measures in england. we expect a new announcement in scotland today, but as for england, when lockdown ends on the 2nd of december,

what are you hearing about the measures that might have to be strengthened through the winter? it is interesting how these stories dovetail, a big part of the whole question around measures in england comes down to the question of english devolution and the turbo—charged power of the metropolitan mayors which we saw playing out with the greater manchester mayor andy burnham a month or so ago. we know the prime minister absolutely wants england to return to a tiered system of restrictions at the beginning of next month, but what might it look like? dr susan hopkins, of public health england, said that the previous tiered system was not up to the job and the lower tiers did not make much of a difference. robertjenrick said the government is looking at all of this, he pointed out that tier 3

restrictions prior to the lockdown were regarded as a a baseline, does that hint at restrictions greater than tier 3 in greater parts of the country done before the lockdown? we do not know, neither does the government, it is looking at data and data operates in something of a lag. the uk health secretary, matt hancock, has indicated it's too early to say what restrictions will be needed once the current lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month. a senior health official in england warned the regional tiered system of covid measures will have to be strengthened. doctor susan hopkins said tieri and 2 measures had not been effective, and could be enhanced "to get us through the winter months until the vaccine is available for everyone". latest official statistics show the provisional number of deaths registered in england and wales in the week ending 6th november was 1,937.

that's an increase of 925 on the previous week. this latest graph from the office for national statistics shows how deaths involving covid—i9 have increased for nine consecutive weeks. the cabinet meeting is being held virtually by borisjohnson as he continues to self isolate. keith doyle has our first report. they may well be smiling under their facemasks in this moderna lab in the us. the past 2a hours have brought some much welcome good news — a second vaccine has been found to work. the moderna vaccine has shown to be almost 95% effective and possibly easier to use than the pfizer one, which needs to be stored at very low temperatures. when you combine it with the news last week of pfizer's vaccine, you've got now two vaccines that are over 90% effective. it really means, i think, we have the tools necessary to finally beat this virus back. and i think that's probably the best

news of the day for all of us, is that there really are now solutions in our hands, and we need to deliver them to the people who can use them. both vaccines still have to be approved for use, but with many more also being trialled, it's possible that the most vulnerable will be able to get vaccinated before christmas, with a wider roll—out next year. while we might all heave a collective sigh of relief, there's a warning that we're not in the clear yet — hundreds of people are dying every day with the virus. the health secretary for england warned we cannot drop our guard. while there is much uncertainty, we can see the candle of hope, and we must do all that we can to nurture its flame. but we're not there yet. until the science can make us safe, we must remain vigilant and keep following the rules that we know can keep this virus under control. there's still another two weeks of lockdown to go in england, after which it's likely tiering will be reimposed, but there

was another warning — the lower tiers had little effect, and so it's possible we will see tougher tier measures on the other side of lockdown. tier 2 seems to hold in some areas and not so well in others, and so really it depends on how fast transmission‘s occurring and how well the individuals in the population are taking that advice in. we see very little effect from tier i, and i think when we look at what tiers may be there in the future, we will have to think about strengthening them in order to get us through the winter months. while the successes of two vaccines is undoubtedly good news, they are not available yet. the end of lockdown in england won't mean life gets back to normal. other parts of the uk are battling with their plans — tougher measures could be announced in scotland later today. there is light, but we are being warned that we are nowhere near the end of the tunnel. keith doyle, bbc news. the us president—elect, joe biden, has said more people could die from the coronavirus

if donald trump continues to block the transition process, following his election defeat earlier this month. mr biden stressed the need for co—operation between the teams, especially on vaccination programmes. 0ur north america correspondent david willis reports. at this north dakota hospital, staff are overwhelmed. here, and in other parts of the country, they are running out of beds — such is the impact of a virus that is spreading with breathtaking speed. joe biden has warned a dark winter lies ahead, but efforts by his team to come up with a plan to cope with it are being stymied by donald trump's stubborn refusal to concede. at risk — the swift distribution of a vaccine. if we have to wait untiljanuary 20th to start that planning, it puts us behind — over a month, a month and a half. and so it's important that it be done, that there be co—ordination — now.

now or as rapidly as we can get that done. the president continues to deny that he lost the election, and has taken to twitter to accuse what he called "radical left democrats" of attempting to steal it. but his refusal to concede is also preventing the biden team from taking the advice of government experts such as dr anthony fauci. the virus is not going to stop and call a timeout while things change — the virus isjust going to keep going. we want a smooth process for that, and the way you do that is by essentially having the two groups speak to each other and exchange information. among those urging the president to acknowledgejoe biden‘s victory is the former first lady michelle 0bama. on her instagram page, she called the seamless transfer of power one of the hallmarks of american democracy, adding, "this isn't a game." whilst hope is dimming that the current occupant

of the white house will prioritise the threat of the virus, health experts are warning that another 200,000 americans could die in the time it takes forjoe biden to take office. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. the headlines on bbc news... borisjohnson has come underfire for reportedly claiming that devolution of power to scotland has been a "disaster". ministers say it's the scottish national party the prime minister opposes, not devolution itself. the scottish government is set to announce whether the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed in the west of scotland. ministers indicate it's too early to say what restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. low cost airline easyjet has posted its first ever annual loss following a slump in demand

for travel because of the pandemic. the company said it lost almost £1.3 billion, that's around $1.7 billion, during the year to the end of september. i've been speaking to our business correspondent ben thompson, and he put those losses into context for us. perhaps no great surprise that easyj et perhaps no great surprise that easyjet is reporting this sort of loss, you just need to look around the world and see how many aircraft are locked up in storage, such as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on air travel and our demand to get away. so easyjet has made a loss of £1.27 billion for the year, the airlines flying atjust 20% of normal capacity and the boss telling us this morning it expects that it telling us this morning it expects thatitis telling us this morning it expects that it is continued right through to next year. let's get the thoughts of travel analyst paul charles. good

morning. perhaps no great surprise, easyj et morning. perhaps no great surprise, easyjet like many other airlines really struggling and it says that slowdown in demand will continue well into next year? these are chilly times for airlines. poor old easyjet, celebrating its 25th birthday this year and reporting its first ever loss. when it launched it was all about changing the face of travel and how we travel and it has done that over the last 25 years, but now it is saddled with 300 planes, most of them not flying, on the ground, and this lack of visibility means it is unable to offer a ny visibility means it is unable to offer any financial guidance about the next few months and it is not alone, like a lot of airlines around the world they are currently unable to forecast where things are heading over the next few months. and they can't forecast because there are so many moving parts in the system. the airline industry, like a number of

others, is susceptible to them all. so if we think about lockdown, the tier system, quarantine rules, travel corridors, testing, a vaccine, they all have huge questions around then, all things which will determine the future for airlines? the key thing is consumer confidence, when will it come back? from talking to many tour operators, travel agents and airlines, the good news is that people are booking the 2021, especially april onwards. there is a feeling that things will be much better buy than with vaccines coming through and looser restrictions and with summer on the horizon. there are some good signs in the travel sector that things are improving, people are booking long—haul destinations like the maldives, the caribbean, even gibraltar, and they are booking because they see that those places seem to have it in a lighter way,

covid. that is kidneys and it means the airlines can start to see light at the end of the channel. the problem is the next four to six months are the most difficult, they are difficult in normal times when winter means little revenue, the next few months will be difficult for airlines like easyjet and others who have less cash to sit on a day lack of visibility, so confident is really important. i wanted to ask you about that, you say there is light at the end of the channel, lots of the bigger airlines might have a cash reserves but very few will have forecast that their entire fleets would be granted for 11 weeks, demand would all but disappearfor 12 months. weeks, demand would all but disappear for 12 months. how long can they continue and are we likely to see either high—profile colla pses, to see either high—profile collapses, consolidation or airlines thinking wejust collapses, consolidation or airlines thinking we just cannot get through the next three months? we will see

much more consolidation, even yesterday won korean airliner was merged or taken over by korea air. norwegian qatar airlines last week revealed it has major cash issues —— norwegian airlines. there is a lot of uncertainty about that airline's teacher and that is a big player out of gatwick. you will see more casualties and consolidation sadly, as happens most years in the airline industry. this is as tough as it will get. you could argue there needs to be consolidation, a shake—out, meaning higher fares needs to be consolidation, a shake—out, meaning higherfares for consumers, but most people are optimistic that it cannot be any worse, we are at the bottom and 2021 onwards will be much better for holiday—makers and the airlines themselves. here is helping. thank

you so much as always, lovely to see you, paul charles, with the details about the massive loss reported by easyj et about the massive loss reported by easyjet —— here's hoping. easyjet's first loss in a 25 year history. all outdoor gatherings in greece have been banned until tomorrow as the country marks the anniversary of the crushing of a student uprising in 1973 by the ruling military. november the 17th is marked each year with wreath—laying ceremonies at the athens polytechnic commemorating those who died there, followed by marches to the us embassy. the ban has caused tension between the government and opposition parties whose leaders say they will take part in street events. joining me now is dr theofanis exadaktylos — reader in european politics, university of surrey. (0s) thank you forjoining us. please explain to viewers who do not know what happened in mid—november in greece in 1973 what that event wasn't why it has been commemorated

since? in november1973 in greece, another student occupied the polytechnic school of athens as a protest against the military dictatorship that began in greece in 1967. it followed a very strong attack by the military regime at the time and a number of students were killed as a result. it was the first stepping stone towards the restoration of democracy that eventually happened in 1974, it was very much an act of resistance by the students at the time that was quite important in setting the country back to a passive democracy a few month later. hence the commemoration every year since on and around the anniversary which has sometimes been marked by trouble. and this year, a political row

around the ban, even though i am presuming it is to do with the response to the pandemic? that is correct, traditionally every year there is a peaceful march happening from the centre of athens up to the united states embassy, lots of unions and political parties come together, student organisations and social movements, and protest against any repressive measures, any social inequalities and injustice but also in terms of international events. traditionally we have had this protest or march being taken over by some anarchist groups who tend to occupy the university grants and cause quite a bit of trouble —— the university grounds. there is a national lockdown in greece, that is

quite important because the government has decided that any sort of protesting or marching this time around will not take place, in fact there was a discussion on whether this move with constitutional or not and the legal implications that had, so part of the opposition laid forward is precisely on the idea that people should be able to march if they wanted. so briefly a potential flashpoint today? we don't know yet? we don't, we had teens and skirmishes in the last couple of days and quite a bit of conflict in the public debate between the left—wing opposition parties and the current government —— we have seen some skirmishes in the last couple of days. the current government in greece is led by a centre—right party and those restrictions in terms of the freedom of movement in the context of the pandemic had seen

some sort of opposition and turns of the extent, therefore we are likely to see something happening tonight, hopefully not you a big extent. thank you for explaining that story, dr theofanis exadaktylos from the university of surrey. ethiopia's prime minister, abiy ahmed, has said a military operation in the northern region of tigray is entering its final phase. several hundred people have been killed and about 25,000 ethiopians have fled to sudan since the fighting began almost two weeks ago. prime minister abiy said a three—day ultimatum given to armed groups in tigray to surrender has now expired. writing on facebook, he said he would launch what he called a final act of law enforcement in the coming days. the bbc‘s kalkidan yibeltal is in the ethiopian capital addis abbaba. he explained the significance of the prime minister's comments. he said that this can only mean one thing, and that is this conflict is not ending soon. we are already working

into its third week and it's likely that we are going to see more fighting in the coming days as well. the prime minister says that there are going to be critical and final stages of this law enforcement operation, that's what he called it, and we don't know what that going to be exactly, but what we know is this conflict is going to continue and we are not going to see the end of this clash soon. since the conflict began, we are seeing a huge influx of refugees from the ethiopian side, crossing the border to sudan, and we are hearing more and more reports of an increase in the number of refugees there. and we are going to see more... it is likely we are going to see more of this refugee displacement, even more casualties, even civilians. and now the prime minister is saying that if they return home, if they return to their country, ethiopia is ready to receive and welcome them and reintegrate them, but it is not clear how that can be achieved when in fact the conflict is still

active and ongoing. police in bangkok have used water cannon and tear gas against protesters calling for reforms to thailand's monarchy and the military—backed government. this was the scene a short time ago. the demonstrators appeared to be trying to move past barricades to get closer to the thai parliament. lawmakers are set to debate proposed amendments to the constitution, which have been introduced following months of mounting anti—government protests. the proposals could make thailand's king more accountable under thai law, and could also reform the thai senate, whose members are unelected. a capsule carrying four astronauts has docked at the international space station, in a mission run by elon musk‘s spacex company. nasa signed a deal with the entrepreneur as part of attempts to end its reliance on russian rockets. the agency is now concentrating its resources on developing a craft and capsule to take people back to the moon.

0ur science correspondent victoria gill reports. first four—person capsule that has ever flown. and so that's... coasting on a fully automated flight to space. as you can see live, they have now revealed to us the zero—g indicator, and it looked like a little baby yoda! these four astronauts — along with their toy companion — are the first to be sent their mission to the international space station aboard a commercial spacecraft. it's a milestone for the nearly £2.5 billion deal that nasa signed with elon musk‘s aerospace company to develop, test and fly an astronaut taxi service. when the spacex dragon capsule arrived and successfully docked, that whole process was also automated. the astronauts on this flight — nasa's michael hopkins, victor glover and shannon walker, and the japanese space agency astronaut soichi noguchi — will spend six months in space. in another history—making moment,

victor gloverjoined the international space station to become its first african—american crew member. there they are. first across the hatch, michael hopkins. and here is victor glover. there are now seven people living and working on the station — tripling its capacity to carry out scientific research in microgravity. and when their mission is done in 2021, their private space taxi will be waiting to bring them home. victoria gill, bbc news. hello, this is bbc news with annita mcveigh. the headlines... boris johnson comes under fire for reportedly claiming that devolution of power for scotland has been a "disaster". ministers say it's the snp the prime minister opposes, not devolution. what he feels strongly, and i would agree, is devolution in

scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp, and that is trying to break apart the united kingdom. these comments just underline the contempt that boris johnson and the tories at westminster have for the people of scotland making the choices. the scottish government is set to announce whether the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed across west scotland. ministers indicate it's too early to say what restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. a total of 1,937 deaths registered in england and wales mentioned covid—19 on the death certificate in the week ending november 6 — the highest number since the week ending 22 may. easyj et posts pretax losses of £1.3 billion — its first annual loss in the airline's 25—year history

sweden's announced new limits on public gatherings after a surge in coronavirus cases. groups of more then eight people will not be allowed, and the public is being urged to cancel activities such as visits to the gym. but there are no plans to introduce the country's first lockdown, as sylvia lennan—spence reports. it's the country without lockdowns or facemasks. even when cases were surging in the summer, sweden followed a different path, opting instead for voluntary social distancing, washing hands, and public gatherings limited to 50 people. it was held up as a model of how to live with the pandemic by anti—lockdown campaigners around the world. but a sharp rise in cases means sweden is now tightening these restrictions, with public gatherings limited to a maximum of eight people. translation: we live

in trying times now, it will get worse, do your duty, take your responsibility to stop the spread of the infections. don't go to the gym, don't go to the library. don't have dinner, don't have parties. cancel. this is now the new normal for the whole society, for all sweden. sweden's cases per 100,000 are currently ten times higher than finland and four times higher than norway. last week, the hospital admissions rate here was growing faster than any other european country. translation: we need to go in with the stronger recommendations and restrictions, and i think it is starting to be time to consider a shutdown of society here and there in sweden. but the country's leader is sticking to the strategy.

we don't believe in a total lockdown, we believe that the measures we've taken, the decisions that we're taking are appropriate. what we want to do at the national level now is to send this very clear, strong signal on the necessity of social distancing, on not spending time with people that you don't live with. sweden says its plan is not herd immunity, where the vulnerable are protected and the virus is allowed to spread, thereby making everyone else immune, eventually. instead, the goal is to keep the economy open, slow the virus, and give hospitals a chance to cope. translation: in the first wave i was more worried, you didn't know how hard it could hit, the health care has better control over how to treat it. this spring everything was so new, you did not understand the seriousness, now i think i take it more seriously. if they don't, then a lockdown looms ever larger.

the uk has seen more than 70,000 excess deaths in the months since the pandemic started, according to the latest figures from the office for national statistics. most occurred in the first wave. let's get more with our head of statistics, robert cuffe. robert, let's remind everyone first of all what we mean by excess deaths. it's a different figure than we're used to hearing, we only heard a few days ago we passed the thousand deaths, compared to what we expect, we can show that viewers, in the last five years you would expect 11 or 12,000 deaths and you could see over the course of the year a huge spike in the number of deaths we saw and that is coming back up again, the difference, the red and blue area, extra deaths, compared to what we expect, the dashed line across the middle that gives us the excess, more than we would expect.

0ur excess, more than we would expect. our very, very marked difference, as the graph shows. how much of these deaths, we get a hint from that last graph, how many of these have happened in the first wave compared with a second which is still ongoing? the total is about 70,000. we saw a bit more than 60,000 in the first wave, in the weeks since the 3rd of october it's about five and a half, as you see from the graph, very clearly most in the first wave, the pattern is also very different in the first wave compared to the second. you see in the chart it shot up second. you see in the chart it shot up really quickly whereas the growth in the second wave has been longer and slower, not over yet, still a long way to go through winter but it isa long way to go through winter but it is a different shape. what do the figures indicate now about what is going on? in the most recent data we have up to the 6th of november we saw just over 2200 covid have up to the 6th of november we sawjust over 2200 covid deaths across the uk, up on the previous week. you can see the red area in

the chart we are showing you, the covid deaths we have seen every week and you see that growth has been pretty steady since the start of 0ctober. and it is running at about 1700 excess deaths at the moment, 1596 1700 excess deaths at the moment, 15% above what we would expect to see at this time of year, a bit of an increase on last year but one thing you take from this chart which is very different to the first wave, if you took away the red area, the covid deaths, we would be running a little bit below what we would expect to see at this time of year. that is a very different patent that we have not seen before, i don't know why that is, you could hypothesise lots of things like 1% of people have covid now, maybe 1% of people have covid now, maybe 1% of deaths or people with covid, a lot of people who died in that week died in the first wave, we don't know. you could have expected it to be worse on the basis of the trends we saw in recent weeks. that information as illustrated reminds

us information as illustrated reminds us all to take care, doesn't it? follow the basic guidelines we all need to. robert, thank you. as the coronavirus pandemic continues to put pressure on healthcare workers, the bbc has been talking to staff at one hospital in england about their experience of treating patients with covid 19. clacton hospital, on england's east coast, has seen seven patients die of the virus in the past month — as simon dedman reports. the coronavirus ward at clacton hospital. the bbc has been given exclusive access as it's getting busier. we have seen a big increase of cases coming in. staff are doing their best to keep it going. it's hard. it's hard on everybody, really. debbie is the clinical lead of this nurse—led hospital. because i'm going into an area where all the patients in there are still covid positive, so we need to ensure that we are protecting ourselves

but also protecting the rest of the patients as well. there are 21 patients with covid. hello, sheila. we will keep doing your swabs. so we are doing them every five days and as soon as we can get a negative, we can get you home. all right? care homes are not taking anyone without a negative test result. it means most will be here for at least 14 days. 69—year—old gerald, a former bus driver and carer from harwich, caught covid after having his leg amputated. he's been here for more than a month. i feel fine. the only thing is i'm waiting for it to be near enough gone so i can go home. what can you do? you live on, don't you? it's getting busier here at clacton hospital, three quarters of the covid beds are full with patients aged between 57 and 99.

and two more are on their way from colchester. the staff at the moment are quite emotional, we've had quite a few deaths and it's quite hard managing staff that are emotional. a majority of those nurses have had covid. marylou was the first in march and off work for three months. she and some colleagues still feel the effects. now, i still have the shortness of breath when i go up the stairs and i also experience the losing of hairfor, i think, for a month. staff here think they have not reached the peak yet and expect to have every bed full in a few weeks but... if people don't take it seriously enough we could end up with this still in the spring. that could mean more covid—19 admissions here in 2021. simon dedman, bbc look east, clacton hospital. as the post—brexit trade

talks in brussels head into what could be their final few days, one thing at least is clear — whatever happens, northern ireland will be trading with europe next year on slightly different terms from the rest of the uk. most businesses can't do much to change that. but what about the fishermen who ply their trade out at sea, between the two parts of the uk? could some scottish fishermen benefit by re—registering their boats in northern ireland? 0ur reality check correspondent chris morris is here to explain. chris, good to have you with us in studio. why might this idea better but scottish fishermen first of all? we are not talking about the big industrial sized controllers that dominate scottish fishing but on the west coast of scotland most of the fishing that takes place within a few miles of the shoreline is for shellfish and nearly all of the catch is exported to europe. you can see on the map the area we are talking about, the narrowest point near campbelltown down to the northern ireland coast, the

narrowest channel is only about 12 miles across, scottish boats, northern ireland boats fishing in the same waters for the same product. you can see it and across ona product. you can see it and across on a clear day. under the brexit withdrawal agreement northern ireland will be treated, will remain in the single market for goods including fish whereas scotland and the rest of the uk will not so if there were no trade deal, for example, shellfish brought ashore in scotla nd example, shellfish brought ashore in scotland will be subject to tariffs to export them to europe whereas shellfish brought ashore in northern ireland would not and even if there isa ireland would not and even if there is a deal, scottish shellfish fishermen would face a variety of border checks, health checks and so forth, bureaucracy and paperwork and a lot of the fishermen we spoke to said potentially this is unaffordable because it will put our business, tariffs... we can't show you a quote from tommy, he's been fishing out of campbelltown on the kintyre peninsula for about 40 years and he told us...

0ther fisher 0therfisher men 0ther fisher men have said the same. is reregistering boats from one part of the uk to another part of the uk possible? in theory, it is actually very simple, it is a very simple process. there is and if end if you talk to government departments in london, in northern ireland, scotland, they say it is a big if, only if a boat genuinely moves its place of operation so you could not just register in one port but keep all your fishing just register in one port but keep all yourfishing operation in the home port you have been used to. you would need to set up a company perhaps to prove you have moved your business to a place like that. i think we can show you a quote from the government department in northern ireland. this is what they said.

but, you know, it is not impossible. companies move registration all the time if they think it will be a profitable reason for them to do so andi profitable reason for them to do so and i think a lot of scottish fishermen in a particular area of looked at this and said if it is the only thing to do, we have to consider it seriously. defra in london point out the details of how northern ireland was my relationship with the eu will work from the beginning of next year is still being negotiated, some of the detail but i think this is one of the anomalies we are going to see emerging next year as northern ireland begins to have a very different relationship with the eu single market and the rest of the uk. of course, fishing, chris, one of the big outstanding issues in the trade talks that are continuing, it's always been a really challenging issue through this whole period of talks, hasn't it? it's worth emphasising of course, a lot of people in the fishing industry are big supporters of brexit, they

think they have got a raw deal back in the 19705 when the common fisheries policy emerge, they think it's really important to take back control of british waters but we see the example places like campbelltown it is not everybody and the problem i5, it is not everybody and the problem is, exemplified really by the shell fishermen, while the eu pushes for access for its boat5 fishermen, while the eu pushes for access for its boats to british water5, access for its boats to british waters, the uk 5till access for its boats to british waters, the uk still wants access for its fishing fleets to sell their produce in eu markets and the eu, interestingly, making a fairly direct comparison say yes we want our boat5 direct comparison say yes we want our boats to have full access to british waters but the uk, for example, wants to have full access to our energy markets, electricity, gas, which are worth an awful lot more money so while the uk is trying to say fishing is a special case and should be treated on its own, the eu for some time now has said no, it is linked to a wider deal and you cannot pick and choose what you want. it is a really tricky i55ue. we know the negotiators are talking about it, it will have to go to

political leaders and there will have to be compromise on both sides if anything is going to be resolved. the talks continue. chris, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news... boris johnson comes under fire for reportedly claiming that devolution has been a "disaster" in scotland. ministers say it's the snp the prime minister oppo5e5, not devolution itself. the scottish government is set to announce whether the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed in the west of scotland. ministers indicate it's too early to say what restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. police in berlin have arrested three people following the theft of historicaljewels from a museum in dresden last year. their worth was said to be incalcuable. more than 1600 officers raided apartments, garages and vehicles in the capital.

0ur berlin correspondant jenny hill has more. police have subsequently said they are members of a notorious criminal family network based here in berlin. what's interesting about that, actually, just earlier this year, three other members of that family network were convicted for the theft of a giant gold coin from a museum here in berlin, you may remember it. it was taken from the museum, transported by wheelbarrow, subsequently disappeared, it's assumed it's been melted down. but back to the dresden theft. this is a big development in the case which shocked the country when it happened, not least because of the worth of what was stolen, these historical treasures, it was said their worth was at the time said to be immeasurable, incalculable, said the museum authorities but also because of the audacity of the crime. the thieves managed to create a partial electricity blackout at the museum before smashing their way through a barred window, then into

a green vault. police were hoping they would be able to recover some of the loot. doesn't look at the moment as though they have recovered any of the items. at the time, actually, museum authorities were clearly upset by what had happened, they said these are not pieces which you could sell legally in any market in the world because they are so recognisable to art dealers. one is a diamond encrusted sword, another a jewel encrusted shoulder piece. it's possible and this is what the museum authorities feared, they would be broken up, these jewellery sets and perhaps sold on in other directions. uk retail chains tesco, sainsbury‘s and marks and spencer say they are reviewing working practices at one of their indian suppliers after a bbc investigation found evidence workers were being exploited. women at the factory which makes home textiles for the brands said they were forced to work excessive

hours, and weren't even allowed toilet breaks. the bbc also heard claims of poor working conditions from staff at an indian supplier to ralph lauren. the american brand has said it will investigate. rajini vaidya nathan reports. in the world of fashion, they are the forgotten — the women who make our clothes. one million miles from the catwalk, they often live in dire poverty. their monthly salaries, barely enough to feed theirfamilies. but these women produce garments for some of the world's biggest brands. the talent beyond creating beautiful things is the talent to recognise people. ralph lauren's clothes don't come cheap, but the women we spoke to say they are paying a far higher price. workers at one south indian factory that

supplies the label earn as little as $3 a day, taking clothes that sell for hundred. they say they are forced to work punishing hours and even end up sleeping on the factory floor. we are made to work continuously, often through the night. sleeping at 3 am then waking up at five for another full day of work. 0ur bosses don't care, they are only bothered about production. they asked us to work so late, i can't even feed my children at night. they shouldn't treat us like slaves, they should give us respect. in a statement, ralph lauren said it was deeply concerned by the allegations and will investigate. the factory concerned has denied all allegations. we also talked to female staff at another indian supplier which produces home furnishings for big british brands such as tesco, marks & spencer and

sainsbury‘s. speaking from their village, the women told us they are made to work in appalling conditions which would be unthinkable to employees at the same brand in the uk. we are not given time to drink water or even use the bathroom. we barely get time to eat lunch. they have increased our workload. we are forced to stay late to finish it or they yell at us and threatened to fire us. we are scared. in statements, all three supermarkets said they were shocked and troubled to hear the reports. sainsbury‘s said it is insisting on a number of actions that the player must take in order for us to continue to work with them. tesco has told us that plan includes prohibiting excessive overtime, strengthening grievance procedures and ensuring workers are fully compensated at the correct rates for the hours they have worked, while marks & spencer said it has a robust plan in place and would be

undertaking regular unannounced audits to ensure its implementation. earlier in the year, there was an outcry after allegations of exploitation emerged in british factories supplying the fashion label boohoo. but the bigger issue lies in asia where most of our clothes are made. exploitation happens around the world for people who make our clothes but it is out of view and people aren't engaging with who those people are, but brands really have a responsibility to look at what is happening and their supply chains and say, others people being treated fairly or are they being exploited? as consumers chase cheaper clothes, the exploitation of the women who make them is one thing that hasn't gone out of fashion. a british diplomat who dived into a river in china to save a student has denied being a hero. stephen ellison, who is the consul general in chongqing,

was walking by the river in a nearby village when the woman slipped on rocks and fell into the water. footage filmed by onlookers showed the 61—year—old taking off his shoes before jumping in to save her. this morning, the diplomat said he was happy to help. you know, the social media, like anywhere, china is no different. things get communicated very, very quickly so it took a day and a half, i think, for it to really take off but yes, there's been some very, very kind comments but really, it was clearly, i'm pleased, i'm so, so pleased the young girl was ok. that's the main thing. but other than that, it was just a split—second decision. we've exchanged chat messages and, in fact, i have met the young girl who is very, very sweet so she's invited me for lunch next weekend which i will be delighted to do. so i'm just very, very happy that it's all ended so well.

though modest. —— very modest. hurricane iota has made landfall over nicaragua, forcing thousands of people there and in neighbouring honduras to evacuate from coastal areas. paul hawkins has more. screaming. it's supposed to be the end of the north atlantic hurricane season, but this is what a category five hurricane looks like. 260 kilometre an hour winds pounding the colombian island of san andreas, bringing life—threatening storm surges and flooding inland. 90 kilometres away, one person died on another colombian island, providencia. it is the first time a category five hurricane has hit columbia. translation: we are facing an event that has characteristics that have never been seen in our country. in a matter of hours, this climatic phenomenon went from a tropical storm to a category five hurricane. and it is not finished yet.

the monster storm now making landfall in north—east nicaragua. this city boarding up. storm surges of 15 to 20 feet are forecast. and potentially 30 inches of rain. translation: the previous hurricane destroyed our house and we were left with nothing. now another one is approaching. we don't know what will happen. we fear for our lives. the lives of my children and of my mother, who is sick. next in iota's sight is honduras and then guatemala, only two weeks ago all three were hit by etta, a category four hurricane. iota, on the other hand, is the strongest atlantic hurricane of the year. only the second november hurricane to reach category five, the last was in 1932. put simply, the hurricane season is getting longer and hurricanes more powerful, fuelled by the warm caribbean sea, a symptom of climate change. paul hawkins, bbc news.

you are watching bbc news. joanna will be with you in the next couple of minutes to take you through until 1pm. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. it's going to be a pretty mild day ahead, especially for some of us in the shelter of the hills, for example aberdeenshire, the shelter of the pennines, north—east wales, we could hit 17 or 18 degrees today. but generally across the board it's mild, cloudy and also fairly breezy. now, what's happening is that we still have a weather front affecting the west of scotland. it's been raining steadily here for you and it's going to continue to do so through today, tonight and even into tomorrow. some of that rain at times getting into northern ireland. one look at the isobars tells you a breezy day for all of us, the strongest winds across the north—west. so through the day we hang onto a lot of cloud and murk

in some western areas, in the east we've got some breaks, which is where we see the highest temperatures, but generally we are looking at a range of ten to about 15 degrees. as we head on through the evening and overnight, the rain continues to fall across western scotland, some of that moving into the north of scotland as well where it will be fairly persistent, and you can see it coming in eventually to northern ireland and then later it will get into south—west england and wales. still a blustery night, still a lot of cloud. some clear skies for parts of the south. it is going to be mild, really, wherever you are. temperatures for most staying in double figures. so that leads us into tomorrow. we still have our front ensconced in the north of scotland, then we've got this cold front coming in. behind it, we'll see a return to colder conditions and again if you look at the isobars, it's going to be another blustery day. so perhaps some early brightness in the east, but it won't last. the cloud will build first as this band of rain moves from the west towards the east. behind that we'll see some clearer skies, also a few showers

and temperatures will actually fall, so they will be a bit lower than these early maximums in some northern and western areas. then as we move from wednesday into thursday, on thursday itself we have a ridge of high pressure and then on friday we've got another weather front coming our way, introducing some more rain and also some milder conditions. and you can see that quite nicely here. so later on wednesday and thursday we see the cold air return, as represented by the blues, and on friday we see a return to the milder air coming our way. on thursday itself there will still be a few showers around, we'll have early gales down the east coast and its going to feel cold with the wind chill, and then we've got rain through the course of friday, but milder.

this is bbc news, i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at eleven... ministers insist borisjohnson does support scottish devolution after reports he branded it a disaster, saying it's the snp the prime minister opposes. what he feels strongly, and i would agree, is devolution in scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp, and that is trying to break apart the united kingdom. these comments just underline the contempt that borisjohnson and the tories at westminster has for the people of scotland making the choices. the scottish government is set to announce whether the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed across west scotland.

latest figures show the number of deaths from covid in england and wales continues to rise for the ninth successive week. easyjet posts pre—tax losses of £1.3 billion, its first annual loss in the airline's 25—year history. we'll talk to the airline's chief executive about future plans. indian factory workers supplying some major british supermarkets say they are being routinely exploited. we have a special investigation. and 27 hours after blast off, the dragon space x capsule successfully docks with the international space station. good morning.

borisjohnson has been criticised for reportedly calling devolution "a disaster" in scotland. during a call with a group of conservative mps, he is said to have described it as "tony blair's biggest mistake". scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, said the comments would be remembered the next time the tories insisted they were not a threat to the powers of the scottish parliament. the housing secretary, robertjenrick insisted mrjohnson supported devolution, but not when it was used by nationalists to try to break up the uk. the scottish national party mp drew hendry said he was not surprised by the prime minister's comments. clearly they are desperately spinning to try to get themselves back out of this revelation, but even if you take it at face value they are effectively saying it is ok for the scottish people to have devolution as long as they vote for the westminster party that we want them to vote for. i don't think that holds water. the scottish people have seen what has happened,

they have been ignored throughout the brexit process, despite voting overwhelmingly to remain in the eu. they have seen all the actions of this infamous internal market bill, to strip powers from scotland and have given the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy the ability to overrule the scottish parliament on almost every aspect of scottish life, from public health to food standards, to the nhs, transport and much more. they've seen all this happening, all these comments do is just expose that wider audience. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is at westminster. they thought it was a bad start of the week yesterday when the prime minister started at in isolation, nowadays. what is the latest? even in isolation, the prime minister is still managing to electrify what is a hugely important debate. taken a few couple of steps back from the headlines and inevitably about the coronavirus and about brexit to the future of the uk, because we are

five and half months away from a elections to the scottish parliament. the snp put in their ma nifesto parliament. the snp put in their manifesto that they would like another independence referendum, and if they won a majority of that election, they are going to be able to say that they put a mandate for another independence referendum. so within the party, they want that to happen next year. so that is a context, the opinion poll suggests that the support for scottish independence is edging up and several polls have given a majority of support for independence in scotla nd of support for independence in scotland at the moment. so how does the government handle its response today spirit must windsor —— here at westminster? the prime minister has always supported devolution, he wants to ensure that local people and communities can have a greater say over their own destiny. whether that's in the devolved ministrations or within england through the devolution to regional mayors. what he does feel strongly,

and i would agree, it's that devolution in scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp, and that that's trying to break apart the united kingdom. and anybody like the prime minister, who loves the uk and wants again put together, thinks that that is a very dangerous and disappointing outcome that we need to battle against. so something of a financing of the position as reported as how the prime minister articulated his view last night, how mr general is suggesting what he meant to say or was intending to say this morning. we expect to hear relatively soon from the new kaddish conservative leader here, —— knew scottish conservative leader, making the point, as he does, that he does not think that devolution is a disaster and instead focuses politicalfire

on the snp. this is becoming big question of the next month as week countdown to the elections at the beginning of may, the question of the future of the uk. thank you very much. lets talk now to richard leonard, leader of the scottish labour party. what do you think about those comments attributed to boris johnson? well, they are quite extraordinary, and perhaps he should have stayed in self isolation and not got to embroiled in a meeting in which he made so many comments, which he made so many comments, which are reminiscent of the voices of stature and major as some of the 805 and 905, which was about devolution, of thatcher, the peach bowl of scotland —— the people of scotland, 1997, when people voted categorically and clearly for devolved scottish parliament within the uk. and then again in 2014 in a

referendum on independence or not, people voted decisively for a devolved settlement inside the united kingdom. so in my view, what borisjohnson is united kingdom. so in my view, what boris johnson is doing united kingdom. so in my view, what borisjohnson is doing is defying the popular will of the people of scotland, and i don't think that is a very good place for any prime minister to bn. a very good place for any prime minister to en. robert jenrick has been interviewed this morning and is trying to clarify what he says boris johnson actually meant when he spoke. he meant, robertjenrick says, to say that devolution in scotla nd says, to say that devolution in scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp, which is trying to break apart the united kingdom. would you agree with that? the problem is that borisjohnson has got form on this, he has previously been ported as saying —— quoted as saying he does not think it is a conceivable thing for scott to be the prime minister of the uk under

the prime minister of the uk under the current settlement, and i think thatis the current settlement, and i think that is an extraordinary, english nationalist perspective on the state of the uk. look, there is clearly a debate being had in scotland about what our future constitutional settle m e nt what our future constitutional settlement should be. actually, i am not especially in favour of the reforms and decentralise jason's that could be made across the uk as pa rt that could be made across the uk as part ofan that could be made across the uk as part of an overall modernisation of the uk constitution, we are in favour of change. but we do not think that neanderthal views and borisjohnson could think that neanderthal views and boris johnson could get anybody any further, except to say it really does expose the underlying thinking and philosophy and downing street, which i think puts the scottish tories in a difficult position. they are trying to embrace devolution and benefit from it electorally, what has not been shown is that that is

at the root of their party and the leadership of their party, there is a deep hostility to devolution. to be fair, robertjenrick did not say that they are opposed to devolution, no one in the tory party this morning has come out and said that they are opposed to devolution, what they are opposed to devolution, what they have said as they are opposed to the break—up of the united kingdom. and obviously, where this argument has now is the fact that there are going to be elections in may, if the snp put in their ma nifesto may, if the snp put in their manifesto that they would like there to bea manifesto that they would like there to be a second referendum on independence, they can then say if they win those elections they have a strong mandate for it. what would you, if you were in government, what would your position be on that? would you say that there should be a second referendum smack first of all —— referendum? second referendum smack first of all -- referendum? with the pandemic... sorry, i meant... i meant the labour

party position. the labour party position, let me go back, i don't think robert dow can try and gloss over what —— robertjenrick can try and gloss over, but he said that the biggest mistake was devolution. i think that is an extraordinary thing to say, devolution has brought powered to a lot of people, it has allowed scotland to take a different approach to their public health care system, it is allowed us to decide what kind of education system we want, opportunities to tackle long—standing challenges like the concentration of land ownership in scotland. we have been able to pass legislation, so i think they're many aspects of devolution over the last 21 yea rs aspects of devolution over the last 21 years that we can be proud of, and they should not be denigrated like borisjohnson. and they should not be denigrated like boris johnson. thank you very much forjoining us.

the health secretary, matt hancock, has indicated it's too early to say what restrictions will be needed once the current lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month. latest official statistics show the provisional number of deaths registered in the uk in the week ending the 6th of november was 2,225. that's an increase of 627 on the previous week. this latest graph shows how deaths have increased since october. it's still far below the peak of the spring, but rising steadily. it comes as doctor susan hopkins said tier1 and 2 measures had not been effective; and could be enhanced "to get us through the winter months until the vaccine is available for everyone". and people in central scotland have been warned to expect restrictions to come into force from friday that are similar to a full lockdown. the country's tightest tier 4 controls involve the closure of hospitality venues and nonessential shops, but not schools. 0fficial confirmation is expected later today. keith doyle has this report.

they may well be smiling under their facemasks in this moderna lab in the us. the past 24 hours have brought some much welcome good news — a second vaccine has been found to work. the moderna vaccine has shown to be almost 95% effective and possibly easier to use than the pfizer one, which needs to be stored at very low temperatures. when you combine it with the news last week of pfizer's vaccine, you've got now two vaccines that are over 90% effective. it really means, i think, we have the tools necessary to finally beat this virus back. and i think that's probably the best news of the day for all of us, is that there really are now solutions in our hands, and we need to deliver them to the people who can use them. both vaccines still have to be approved for use, but with many more also being trialled, it's possible that the most vulnerable will be able to get vaccinated before christmas, with a wider roll—out next year. while we might all heave

a collective sigh of relief, there's a warning that we're not in the clear yet — hundreds of people are dying every day with the virus. the health secretary for england warned we cannot drop our guard. while there is much uncertainty, we can see the candle of hope, and we must do all that we can to nurture its flame. but we're not there yet. until the science can make us safe, we must remain vigilant and keep following the rules that we know can keep this virus under control. there's still another two weeks of lockdown to go in england, after which it's likely tiering will be reimposed, but there was another warning — the lower tiers had little effect, and so it's possible we will see tougher tier measures on the other side of lockdown. tier 2 seems to hold in some areas and not so well in others, and so really it depends on how fast transmission's occurring and how well the individuals in the population are taking that advice in. we see very little effect from tier 1, and i think when we look

at what tiers may be there in the future, we will have to think about strengthening them in order to get us through the winter months. while the successes of two vaccines is undoubtedly good news, they are not available yet. the end of lockdown in england won't mean life gets back to normal. other parts of the uk are battling with their plans — tougher measures could be announced in scotland later today. there is light, but we are being warned that we are nowhere near the end of the tunnel. keith doyle, bbc news. easyjet has posted its first ever annual loss following a slump in demand for travel because of the pandemic. the airline said it lost almost £1.3 billion during the year to the end of september. lets bring in our business presenter ben thompson, who's been looking at this. thanks very much. no great surprise that the airline has been forced to such a heavy loss, its planes were

grounded for 11 weeks during that first lockdown, and since then, flying it just maybe first lockdown, and since then, flying itjust maybe 20% of normal capacity. telling us this morning that that will continue well into next year, although there is hope that bookings for summer of 2021 could be looking up, but remember, that relies on things like better testing, may be a vaccine, and also better rules and optimism amongst passengers to feel safe and get away. let's speak to the chief executive of easyjet, he joins me from the headquarters. good morning to you, some up this year for us for you, how has it been, how is it looking, a loss of nearly £1.3 billion, but perhaps not a great surprise given the state of the airline market right now. yes, it is not a surprise, it has been an extraordinarily difficult year as you can imagine. the industry has

been the hardest it's ever been in modern times, and that is reflected in these numbers. but i think we have ta ken a in these numbers. but i think we have taken a lot of action trying to mitigate the situation. we reduced the cost, we are managing the cash flow, we a re the cost, we are managing the cash flow, we are really making sure that we can come through this in a way where we also can be able to recover quickly, as we see the news coming in on the vaccine and testing and also refinement of the quarantine measures. all in all, we also see that there is a strong demand for travel, it is really the restrictions that is dampening that demand at the moment. so let's talk about some of the issues about how you have navigated the worst of this. i know back in may you announced plans to cover only 30% of your workforce, you have also been

making use of government loan schemes to help you get through, how deep are your pockets? how big are those cash reserves to get you through to getting back to some sort of normality? because many say 2021 may be a few more passengers, but we are not likely to see demand bounce back until at least 2023. on the liquidity, we were early in terms of getting access to that, so since everything started we have raised for £31 million, the 30th of september was just over 3.3 million pounds, so we have to make sure that we will continue to validate all the options on the alternatives that are available. because we still don't know yet when we are going through the pandemic phase into the recovery phase, back into the growth phase, and your right to point out that most industry commentators and ourselves believe that it will take up ourselves believe that it will take up until 2023 probably before we come back to the earlier levels. but

i must stress that we are seeing increasingly a demand for people to fly, when the canaries was removed from the list of quarantines, bookings were up almost 900%. it's also evidence that as long as this continues, actually increases the pent—up demand, because ultimately that people want to fly and go on their holiday and do bookings, but their holiday and do bookings, but the restrictions, for the right reasons that we are well aware about and agree with, but those in place that decrease the demand. but as soon as the vaccine comes into play, the effective testing come into place, the refined quarantine procedures, not needing to quarantine for 14 days, all of those things will help boost the

confidence of people to fly. and in opposition, we will be ready and available to bounce back very quickly —— and in that position, we will be ready. i want to ask you, you wrote to the prime minister this morning offering help with the distribution and also being able to administer the vaccine if and when that becomes available on a widespread basis. just explain this and how your staff might be able to help. yes, first of all, in terms of the aircraft, we have the largest fleet of aircraft in the uk, so those would be available in order to distribute the vaccine. also we have people, we have up to 4000 people of our fantastic crews that are trained in first aid, and they were also pa rt in first aid, and they were also part and helped out with the initial phases of the pandemic, so they would be able and ready to assist in any way we can in order to get the

roll—out of the vaccination in an efficient way. so that was my message to the prime minister, working together to get a programme in place of the vaccination, because that would also help the industry that would also help the industry that we are in. really interesting, we will stay in touch with you about whether you get a response to that and what could happen next. the chief executive of easyjet, grateful for your time this morning. and as you heard there, so many moving parts, lockdown, the tier system, testing, travel core doors, and the vaccine that could make things a bit more like normal. but as you were hearing, so many moving parts that mean things will not get back to normalfor a very long mean things will not get back to normal for a very long time. easyjet operating just 20% of its normal capacity right now, and it could

ta ke capacity right now, and it could take until 2023 until things get back to normal, assuming that things do bounce back. maybe some of our habits like business and travel may have changed forever. thank you very much, let's get the latest from sport. a virtual summit on the ‘future of football‘ will be hosted by culture secretary 0liver dowden today. equality and diversity, and the women's game will all be discussed. also high on the agenda will be plans for a financial bailout for lower league clubs and the return of fans to grounds. everyone is suffering, butjust like smaller businesses, whether they are football or not, they don't have many cash reserves. and that is what is happening to the small football clu bs, is happening to the small football clubs, they have done a lot of things themselves, cut the wage bell, cut the costs, further their staff, there is only so long that can go on before they cease to

survive. and that is why the premier league has given them grants and loa ns league has given them grants and loans of up to £50 million to get them through this crisis, so hopefully the football family will come out of it together. two former umpires have accused the england and wales cricket board of "institutionalised racism". john holder, who retired 11 years ago, says it looked "more than suspicious" he had not received a reply from the ecb when offering to be a mentor at the organisation. ismail dawood, meanwhile, claims that racist language used in front of senior ecb staff has gone unchallenged. the pair have asked for an independent investigation from the equality and human rights commission. the ecb say they have commissioned a review to look at how they can reform their approach to managing match officials. some breakng cricket news, england's proposed tour to pakistan early next year won't go ahead now. england are also due to face india and sri lanka. england's cricketers have arrived in south africa ahead

of their first tour since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. they will play three international t20 matches and three one—day internationals. the matches will be played in cape town and paarl with players again having to remain in biosecure bubbles. it's been a good day for the england captain heather knight in the women's big bash in australia. she made an unbeaten 58 off 32 balls, and hit a six off the last ball of the match, to help sydney thunder to an 8 wicket win over melbourne renegades. the victory lifts the thunder into a play off position. the atp tour finals continue, rafa nadal plays dominic thiem this afternoon. you can watch that on bbc two and the bbc sport website from 2. andrey rublev plays defending champion stefanos tsitsipas in the evening session. yesterday world number 0ne novak djokovic won his opening match. he eased to a straight sets victory against diego schwartzmann. the serb is aiming to win the event for a record equalling sixth time.

up next for djokovic will be the russian fourth seed daniil medvedev, he beat alexander zverev in straight sets yesterday. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you very much, see you later. nicola sturgeon has given her strongest indication yet that glasco and lanarkshire may go into the highest level of restrictions in scotland. tier 4, that is close to april lockdown. —— a full lockdown. let's refresh our memory of the 5—level tier system in place in scotland. level 0, or nearly normal, allows up to eight people to meet indoors, and 15 people outdoors. level1, medium, let's six people from two households meet indoors or outdoors. level2, high, bans different households meeting indoors,

but six people from two households can meet outdoors and in pubs, restau ra nts a nd cafes. alcohol can be sold here until eight pm, but only with food. level 3, very high, bans the sale of alcohol indoors and outdoors. cafes pu bs a nd restau ra nts ca n sell food until 6pm. level 4, which is where we believe parts of west scotland will be heading, is closer to a full lockodwn. nonessential shops, hospitality and gyms will be forced to close. some outdoor meeting will be allowed, and schools will remain open. let's speak to two business owners who have already been hit by the current covid restrictions. david dalrymple is the co—owner of a1 kilt hire. and graham suttle, who is the managing director of kained, a chain of seven bars and restaurants across scotland. welcome both of you. so i want to know how you're both feeling about the prospect of tier 4. david. tier

4is the prospect of tier 4. david. tier 4 is effectively a lockdown with the schools open. and we have been suffering quite a lot from being unsure about whether they were coming, so this puts a final nail in that coffin, so we cannot accommodate anyone and the business is effectively closed, on pause for however long tier 4 may last for. how has your business been throughout the restrictions, have people been hiring kilts at anything like the level they were before? no, nothing like the same level. we are in the wedding industry, and historically, people book in advance, so we have suffered from people not bringing their wedding party and for the summer, and also people lost confidence for next summer. so we are struggling, and this means we are not a complete

stop. graham, how do you feel about the prospect of going into tier 4? well, it's a disaster, an absolute disaster. as david says, does everything but full lockdown with the schools open. i should point, if you look at the statistics, the ones that are been released now, which we still do not have from the scottish government, and factions at 29% care homes, 24% in workplace, 19% in schools, 7% in hospitals and 2% in restaurants and hospitality, despite having been open for the entirety of that survey — — having been open for the entirety of that survey —— despite not having been open for that survey. tier 2 and tier3 been open for that survey. tier 2 and tier 3 restrictions on hospitality has been huge, it's been devastating, moving into tier 4, hospitality has been huge, it's been devastating, moving into tier4, i think as david says, we will be

everything but full lockdown with the exception of schools. in terms of support, what have you had and hasn't been enough for you to be able —— has it been enough for you to be able to see a viable future wood i get daily hugs to see a viable future? i get daily hugs from my wife. that's good, in terms of the government. laughter we have had the furlough scheme, which has been great to support the teams, 80% of the income these guys also have tips when they are working as well, but in terms of actual support from the government and grandson we have received, in terms of supporting the business and the daily operational costs. for example, businesses will probably

use up to £10,000, depending on the rent, so the one and have thousand— £3000 grant doesn't really cover that. you have a lot of wasted money in terms of supplies as well, products that you brought in for opening. this is the question that gets mentioned, the opening comes m, gets mentioned, the opening comes in, i'm sure david is the same, you cannotjust turn in, i'm sure david is the same, you cannot just turn it on and turn in, i'm sure david is the same, you cannotjust turn it on and turn it off, you have to get bookings in, you have to start up supply chains, all of these things cost money. and what about the financial support for your business, david ? what about the financial support for your business, david? it's been adequate, i would say. i think it is adequate, i would say. i think it is a fluid situation, but the government can only do so much. it's been 0k, we are going to stay open, we are fine, it's going to be tough.

but we are going to carry on, we are going to see it through, and the news have any type of vaccine really does help confidence for next year and incompetence is absolutely key in our business. absolutely essential further was great, we in our business. absolutely essentialfurther was great, we have —— furlough was great, we managed to keep all of our staff on, hoping for the best in the future, but preparing for the worse. graham, do you think you will be able to keep everything going? yes, i shared david's sentiment in terms of looking to the future with optimism, and again, the government are making impossible decisions. however, i would say that if you take the uk impact that the lockdowns had, march when this first happened, our gdp in terms of turnover, that is one third

of the entire country's gdp. london, 250,000 jobs, just the hospitality business, it makes for a grim reading beginning into 2021. and as i say, the furlough scheme and the grants are tiding a by, it's not a case of not losing money, it's a case of not losing money, it's a case of not losing money, it's a case of trying to restrict how much money where actually losing. but moving forward, i do have massive concerns moving forward, i do have massive concerns for the future, 2021, we have to get their october and december. over 30% comes from that period, so while i want to be optimistic now, hitting january looking back on additional costs that we had to endure, and it looks pretty bleak for business. thank you both so much forjoining us, keep having the hugs. thank you. half

past four, we will answer your questions on covid—19 vaccines. joining us will be cell biologist at university college london, university college london, jennifer rohn and university of cambridge virologist dr chris smith. send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email them using yourquestions@bbc.co.uk now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. it's going to be a mild day today, but for many of us it's also going to be a fairly cloudy one. we still have some rain across western scotland, it's been falling here for some time. some of that this morning getting into northern ireland, easing as we go through the afternoon but remaining cloudy with the odd shower, and for western areas, a lot of cloud with some drizzle and some murky conditions. we could see temperatures, though, in any breaks in the cloud across north—east scotland, east of the pennines, north—east wales, get up to 17 or 18. now, through this evening and overnight, we continue with the blustery winds, we continue with the rain, that rain

getting into the north of scotland, more coming into the west of the uk as well and a lot of cloud, but it will be a mild night. so a mild start to the day tomorrow with still all this rain in the north and west, still blustery, and that rain continuing to push east as we go through the day. behind it, temperatures will start to fall, and we'll see a return to brighter skies, but also a fair few showers. top temperature, 16. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: ministers insist borisjohnson does support scottish devolution after reports he branded it a disaster — saying it's the snp the prime minister opposes. what he does feel strongly, and i would agree, is that devolution in scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp, and that is trying to break

apart the united kingdom. these comments just underline the contempt that borisjohnson and the tories of westminster have for the people of scotland making their choices. the scottish government is set to announce whether the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed across west scotland. latest figures show the number of deaths from covid in england and wales continues to rise for the ninth successive week. let's take you live to the house of commons now, where the health secretary, matt hancock is taking questions from mp5 on health issues and the coronavirus. we have discussed many times in this house the importance of the use of testing because of this terrible dilemma of wanting to keep people safe in the care homes, yet also wanting to allow visiting. testing

can help to resolve that. the pilots are ongoing now in some parts of the country, and i very much hope we can get to the position where we can offer that testing to enable visiting across the country before christmas. can i welcome the testing pilots happening, including in southampton. can he see how the government will be able to support local authorities and public health teams on the logistics of mass testing, particularly in rural areas? increasingly, the test itself is only one part of getting a high quality testing system. it is the logistics around it which are also absolutely vital. we are already funding local authorities across the country with support to roll out mass testing, but we will learn from the pilots, including in hampshire, is my right honourable friend says, to see what extra might be needed.

testing, backed up by tracing and isolation, is key to avoiding further lockdowns. yesterday, at his press conference , we further lockdowns. yesterday, at his press conference, we heard that you're one has had very little effect, and that the tears must be strengthened. can he confirm that it is the government was back intention to impose a tougher set of restrictions on tier1 areas post this lockdown? it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests, but of course we remain vigilant. we will soon be asked to make a decision on the future of the lockdowns, so the earlier we get that information the better. testing is crucial, testing for nhs staff is crucial for dealing with the backlog in nhs care. last week we learned that hundred and 39,000 people were waiting beyond 12 months for treatment. we now know that 52,000 people are waiting beyond 18 weeks for orthopaedic surgery, often hip and knee

replacements. 233 thousand people are waiting longer for heart valve surgery, many languishing on trolleys. as well as testing nhs staff, ministers have promised to give us whatever the nhs needs. can you guarantee that the spending review will deliver the resources, beds and capacity to bring waiting lists the good news is, mr speaker, that we are managing to continue to drive through the backlog that understandably built up in the first peak. i think that the honourable gentleman, instead of attacking the nhs, should be backing the nhs and thanking them for the incredible ha rd thanking them for the incredible hard work that they are doing right now and we'll be doing over this winter. we now have a substantive question. thank you, mr speaker. the prime minister has announced £3 billion to support nhs capacity this

winter. among other things, this money funds nightingale hospital is so money funds nightingale hospital is so extra capacity is available. it funds the nhs ongoing access to additional private sector capacity. in addition £450 million of capital funding has been announced to upgrade and expand a&es across the country to help repair the nhs for winter. that money is already being spent. the £3 million announced for dudley to increase winter capacity is hugely welcome. but well my honourable friend also look at dudley‘s bid for capital funding for a hybrid theatre and for reconfiguration of critical care? will hejoin me on a visit reconfiguration of critical care? will he join me on a visit so that he can see the transformative effect of those projects which have helped ca re of those projects which have helped care for patients in dudley south?”

am delighted my honourable friend's constituents will benefit from £3 million to increase capacity at their hospital as part of that investment to upgrade ahead of winter. future spending will be dependent at the upcoming spending review, but once in a settlement has been confirmed with the treasury we will consider carefully how projects are prioritised within it. in the meantime, i would encourage the dudley group to discuss their proposals with nhs england, and i would of course be happy to meet him to discuss this because i know how ha rd to discuss this because i know how hard he can pounce on this issue. i would be delighted, when i'm able to to take up on the offer of a visit. the nhs will only survive the winter if its workforce is valued and supported. the evidence of the select committee this morning was stark. does the minister understand how demoralising it is first after your reports that they may face yet another two—year pay freeze? i asked

this to be rolled out last week, i got no answer. well they roll out a pay freeze for nhs staff? he is quite right to highlight the amazing work that our nhs and social care workforce have done throughout this pandemic, as they do every year. i pay tribute to them for that. as he will know, the nhs agrees with its staff multi—year pay deals set by independent recommendations and we continue with that process. question seven, mr speaker. in addition to giving local directors of public health access to tests, nhs test and trace will provide access to training, clinical operational and service design guidance, and communication and engagement support. in addition, all local authorities have funding available up authorities have funding available up to £8 per head of population to

support roll out. i welcome the allocation of lateral flow tests to both kingston and richmond in my constituency to allow for mass testing. can you confirm that in addition to the sport he has just outlined for testing, world also be additional resources to support local tracing efforts and also to support those are found to need to isolate? absolutely, the funding to support people who need to isolate is in addition to the funding ijust outlined. which supports both the roll out of mass testing and local contact tracing. we always keep these things under review.” contact tracing. we always keep these things under review. i would like to take question eight and together. that was mps asking matt hancock questions about covid—19 in the comments. do not forget we are

going to be answering your questions here on the vaccine and everything else covid related at 4:30pm this afternoon. if you want to send your questions, e—mail them in. the uk supermarkets tesco, sainsbury‘s and marks and spencer say they are reviewing working practices at one of their indian suppliers after a bbc investigation found evidence workers were being exploited. women at the factory, which makes home textiles for the brands, said they were forced to work excessive hours, and weren't even allowed toilet breaks. the bbc also heard claims of poor working conditions from staff at an indian supplier to ralph lauren. the american brand has said it will investigate. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports. in the world of fashion, they are the forgotten — the women who make our clothes. a million miles from the catwalk, they often live in dire poverty. their monthly salaries barely enough to feed their families. but these women produce garments for some of the world's biggest brands.

ralph's talent, beyond creating beautiful things, is his talent to recognise people. ralph laure,'s clothes don't come cheap, but the women we spoke to say they are paying a far higher price. workers at one south indian factory which supplies the label earn as little as $3 a day, making clothes that sell for hundreds. they say they are forced to work punishing hours to finish orders, and even end up sleeping on the factory floor. translation: we are made to work continuously, often through the night. sleeping at 3am, then waking up by 5 for another full day of work. 0ur bosses don't care, they are only bothered about production. translation: they asked us to work so late, i can't even feed my children at night. they shouldn't treat us like slaves, they should give us respect. in a statement, ralph lauren said it was deeply concerned by the allegations and will investigate.

the factory concerned has denied all allegations. we also talked to female staff at another indian supplier which produces home furnishings for big british brands such as tesco, marks & spencer and sainsbury‘s. speaking from their village, the women told us they are made to work in appalling conditions which would be unthinkable to employees at the same brand in the uk. translation: we are not given time to drink water. we are not given time to even use the bathroom. we barely get time to eat lunch. translation: they have increased our workload. we are forced to stay late to finish it or they yell at us and threaten to fire us. we are scared. in statements, all three supermarkets said they were shocked and troubled to hear the reports. sainsbury‘s said it is insisting

on a number of actions that the supplier must take in order for us to continue to work with them. tesco has told us that plan includes prohibiting excessive overtime, strengthening grievance procedures, and ensuring workers are fully compensated at the correct rates for the hours they have worked. while marks & spencer said it has a robust plan in place and would be undertaking regular unannounced audits to ensure its implementation. earlier in the year, there was an outcry after allegations of exploitation emerged in british factories supplying the fashion label boohoo. but activists say the bigger issue lies in asia where most of our clothes are made. exploitation happens for people who make our clothes around the world on a regular basis, but it is out of view and people aren't engaging with who those people are, but brands really have a responsibility to look at what is happening in their supply chains and say, are those people being treated fairly

or are they being exploited? as consumers chase cheaper clothes and brands bank bigger profits, it seems that the exploitation of the women who make them is one thing that hasn't gone out of fashion. the headlines on bbc news: ministers insist borisjohnson does support scottish devolution after reports he branded it a disaster — saying it's the snp the prime minister opposes. the scottish government is set to announce whether the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed in the west of scotland. latest figures show the number of deaths from covid in england and wales continues to rise for the ninth successive week. the crisis that's been brewing in ethiopia for almost two weeks could be coming to a head — as the country's prime minister says a three—day ultimatum given to tigrayan forces has expired. several hundred people have been

killed and about twenty— five thousand ethiopians have fled to sudan since fighting began between forces loyal to the regional government — and the ethiopian military. the ethiopian military says it's carried out what it calls ‘surgical‘ air strikes outside the tigrayan capital. it denies civilians have been targeted. abiy ahmed has posted on facebook that ‘the final critical act of law enforcement will be done in the coming days.‘ the bbc‘s kalkidan yibeltal is in the ethiopian capital addis ababa. he explained the significance of the prime minister's comments. he said that this can only mean one thing, and that is this conflict is not ending soon. we are already working into its third week and it's likely that we are going to see more fighting in the coming days as well. the prime minister says that there are going to be critical and final stages of this law enforcement operation, that's what he called it,

and we don't know what that going to be exactly, but what we know is this conflict is going to continue and we are not going to see the end of this clash soon. since the conflict began, we are seeing a huge influx of refugees from the ethiopian side, crossing the border to sudan, and we are hearing more and more reports of an increase in the number of refugees there. and we are going to see more... it is likely we are going to see more of this refugee displacement, even more casualties, even civilians. and now the prime minister is saying that if they return home, if they return to their country, ethiopia is ready to receive and welcome them and reintegrate them, but it is not clear how that can be achieved when in fact the conflict is still active and ongoing.

police in bangkok have used water cannon and tear gas against protesters calling for reforms to thailand's monarchy and the military—backed government. this was the scene earlier. the demonstrators appeared to be trying to move past barricades to get closer to the thai parliament. lawmakers are set to debate proposed amendments to the constitution, which have been introduced following months of mounting anti—government protests. the proposals could make thailand's king more accountable under thai law and also reform the thai senate, whose members are unelected. us president—electjoe biden has warned that "people may die" if president donald trump continues to delay the transition of power. it's been more than a week since mr biden was projected to have won the election — and he said he needs to co—ordinate his plans to control coronavirus. 0ur north america correspondent david willis reports. at this north dakota hospital, staff are overwhelmed. here, and in other parts of the country, they are running out of beds — such is the impact of

a virus that is spreading with breathtaking speed. joe biden has warned a dark winter lies ahead, but efforts by his team to come up with a plan to cope with it are being stymied by donald trump's stubborn refusal to concede. at risk — the swift distribution of a vaccine. if we have to wait untiljanuary 20th to start that planning, it puts us behind — over a month, a month and a half. and so it's important that it be done, that there be co—ordination — now. now or as rapidly as we can get that done. the president continues to deny that he lost the election, and has taken to twitter to accuse what he called "radical left democrats" of attempting to steal it. but his refusal to concede is also preventing the biden team from taking the advice of government experts such as dr anthony fauci. the virus is not going to stop and call a timeout

while things change — the virus isjust going to keep going. we want a smooth process for that, and the way you do that is by essentially having the two groups speak to each other and exchange information. among those urging the president to acknowledgejoe biden's victory is the former first lady michelle 0bama. on her instagram page, she called the seamless transfer of power one of the hallmarks of american democracy, adding, "this isn't a game." whilst hope is dimming that the current occupant of the white house will prioritise the threat of the virus, health experts are warning that another 200,000 americans could die in the time it takes forjoe biden to take office. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. lewis hamilton has been named as the most influential black briton. the formula 1 driverfrom stevenage joins marcus rashford and stormzy on the powerlist 2021. the regional director

for public health england — professor kevin fenton has also made the list. us singer taylor swift says the master recordings of her first six albums have been sold without her knowledge for a second time. she says she's been trying to regain ownership of her back catalogue for the past year. taylor swift confirmed a report that music mogul scooter braun has sold the rights to her albums in a deal thought to be worth more than £220 million. a british diplomat who dived into a river in china to save a student has denied being a hero — saying he was just the first person ‘to take his shoes off‘. stephen ellison, who is the consul general in chongqing, was walking by the river in a nearby village when the woman slipped on rocks and fell into the water. footage filmed by onlookers showed the 61—year—old taking off his shoes before jumping in to save her. the pictures quickly went viral, prompting praise across social media. but this morning, the diplomat said he was happy to help. you know, the social

media, like anywhere, but china's no different, things get communicated very quickly. i think it took a day and a half, i think, for it to really take off, but yeah, some very, very kind comments. but really it was... clearly i am pleased, i am so, so pleased that the young girl was ok. that is the main thing. but other than that, you know, it was just a split second decision. we have exchanged wechat messages. in fact, i have met the young girl, who is very, very sweet, and she has invited me for lunch next weekend, which i will be delighted to do. i am just very, very happy that it has all ended so well. a capsule carrying four astronauts has docked at the international space station, in a mission run by elon musk‘s spacex company. nasa signed a deal with the entrepreneur as part of attempts to end its reliance

on russian rockets. the agency is now concentrating its resources on developing a craft and capsule to take people back to the moon. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill reports. first four—person capsule that has ever flown. and so that's... coasting on a fully automated flight to space. as you can see live, they have now revealed to us the zero—g indicator, and it looked like a little baby yoda! these four astronauts — along with their toy companion — are the first to be sent their mission to the international space station aboard a commercial spacecraft. it's a milestone for the nearly £2.5 billion deal that nasa signed with elon musk‘s aerospace company to develop, test and fly an astronaut taxi service. when the spacex dragon capsule arrived and successfully docked, that whole process was also automated. the astronauts on this flight — nasa's michael hopkins, victor glover and shannon walker,

and the japanese space agency astronaut soichi noguchi — will spend six months in space. in another history—making moment, victor gloverjoined the international space station to become its first african—american crew member. there they are. first across the hatch, michael hopkins. and there is victor glover. there are now seven people living and working on the station — tripling its capacity to carry out scientific research in microgravity. and when their mission is done in 2021, their private space taxi will be waiting to bring them home. victoria gill, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. it is going to be a pretty mild day ahead, especially for some of us in the shelter of the hills — for example, aberdeenshire sheltering in the pennines, north—east wales we could hit 17—18 today. but generally across the board it is mild, cloudy, and also fairly breezy. now, what is happening is

that we still have a weather front affecting the west of scotland. it has been raining steadily for you and it is going to continue to do so through today, tonight, and even into tomorrow. some of that rain, at times, getting into northern ireland. a look at the isobars tells you it is a breezy day for all of us. the strongest winds across the north west. through the day, we hang on to a lot of cloud and murk in some western areas. to the east, we have got some breaks, which is where we will see the highest temperatures, but generally we are looking at a range of 10—15. as we head on through the evening and overnight, the rain continues to fall across western scotland. some of that moving into the north of scotland, as well, where it will be fairly persistent, and you can see it coming in eventually to northern ireland, and then later on it will get into south—west england and wales. still a blustery night, still a lot of cloud, some clear skies in parts of the south, but it is going to be mild really wherever you are. temperatures for most staying in double figures. that leads us into tomorrow. we still have our front ensconced in the north of scotland, then we have got this cold front coming in. behind it, we will see a return

to colder conditions, and again, if you look at the isobars, it is going to be another blustery day. so, perhaps some early brightness in the east, but it will not last. the cloud will build further as this band of rain moves from the west towards the east. behind that, we will see some clearer skies, also a few showers, and temperatures will actually fall, so they will be a bit lower than this. these are early maximums in some northern and western areas. then, as we move from wednesday into thursday, on thursday itself we have a ridge of high pressure, and then on friday we have another weather front coming our way, introducing some more rain and also some milder conditions. you can see that quite nicely here. later on wednesday and through thursday, we see the cold air return, as represented by the blues. and then on friday, we see a return to the milder air coming our way. on thursday itself, there will still be a few showers around. we will have early gales down the east coast and it is going to feel cold with the wind chill. then we have got rain crossing us during the course of friday, but milder.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the health secretary says he can't confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. mr speaker it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests, but of course we remain vigilant. well, soon we have to to make a decision on the future of the lockdown, so the earlier we get that information, the better. it comes as latest figures show the number of deaths from covid in england and wales continues to rise for the ninth successive week. the scottish government is set to announce that the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed across west scotland. ministers insist borisjohnson does

support scottish devolution after reports he branded it a disaster — saying it's the snp the prime minister opposes. what he feels strongly, and i would agree, is devolution in scotland has facilitated the rise of separatism and nationalism in the form of the snp, and that is trying to break apart the united kingdom. these comments just underline the contempt that borisjohnson and the tories at westminster have for the people of scotland making their choices. easyjet posts pre—tax losses of £1.3 billion, its first annual loss in the airline's 25—year history. indian factory workers supplying some major british supermarkets say they are being routinely exploited. we have a special investigation. and a warm welcome for the four astronauts arriving at the international space station after their spacex dragon capsule successfully docked.

the health secretary, matt hancock, has told mps the government "remains vigilant" but it's too early to say what restrictions will be needed once the current lockdown in england ends next month. it comes as doctor susan hopkins, who advises ministers on behalf of public health england, said tier1 and 2 measures had not been effective and could be enhanced "to get us through the winter months until the vaccine is available for everyone". latest official statistics show the provisional number of deaths registered in the uk in the week ending 6 november was 2,225. that's an increase of 627 on the previous week.

this latest graph from the office for national statistics shows how deaths have increased since october. it's still far below the peak of the spring, but is rising steadily. and people in central scotland have been warned to expect restrictions to come into force from friday that are similar to a full lockdown. the country's tightest tier 4 controls involve the closure of hospitality venues and nonessential shops — but not schools. official confirmation is expected later today. a short time ago the health secretary answered a question in the commons from the shadow health secretary jonathan ashworth about the possibility of tighter restrictions next month. mr speaker, testing, backed up by tracing and isolation, is key to avoiding further lockdowns. yesterday at the press conference, we heard tier1 has had very little effect and that the tiers must be strengthened. so can he confirm that it isa strengthened. so can he confirm that it is a government's intention to impose a tougher set of restrictions

on tier1 areas post this lockdown? it is too early to do the announcements about the honourable gentleman requests, but of course we remain vigilant. we will soon be asked to make a decision on the future of the lockdown, so the earlier we get that information the better. testing is crucial, testing for nhs app is crucialfor better. testing is crucial, testing for nhs app is crucial for dealing with the backlog and nhs care. last week we had 139,000 people waiting more than 12 months for treatment, we now know that 252,000 people have waited beyond 18 weeks for orthopaedic surgery, hips and the replacements, 233,000 patients waiting on 18 weeks before i surgery, many could go blind. people waiting longerfor surgery, many could go blind. people waiting longer for many other surgeries, dangerously overcrowded asa surgeries, dangerously overcrowded as a unease. as well as testing nhs staff, government ministers have promised to give us whatever the nhs needs, can he promised that spending

will deliver the beds and capacity to bring waiting list down? the good news is that we are managing to continue to drive through the backlog, that understandably build up backlog, that understandably build up in the first peak. and so i think that the honourable gentleman, instead of attacking the nhs, should be backing the nhs and thanking them for the incredible hard work that the nhs are doing right now and will be doing over this winter. matt hancock in the comments earlier. —— commons. the uk has seen more than 70,000 excess deaths in the months since the pandemic started, according to the latest figures from the office for national statistics. most occurred in the first wave. let's get more with our head of statistics, robert cuffe, talk us through the excess deaths? it isa talk us through the excess deaths? it is a horrible phrase, but when we have gotte n it is a horrible phrase, but when we have gotten use to sense of beginning. it is the number of deaths compared to what we would

expect, and different from the daily figure, because a daily figures people who have tested positive for coronavirus before dying. so the excess deaths is capturing people who were expected, but victims of the pandemic generally. so that figure of 70,000 is a lot more than we are used to hearing, but it ca ptu res a we are used to hearing, but it captures a broader limit, and it is going up because a number of covid deaths are going up. so what is a breakdown in comparison with the first wave? we can show that to the viewers, as he said, it is largely the deaths that happen in the first wave. since october, we have seen probably about five and half thousand of these, and you can see it clearly in the chart here, that dashed line across the middle of the graph is showing what we do expect on the basis of the last five years, and you can see the total number shot up during the spring that first wave, driven by those red covid deaths. it was down through the summerand it deaths. it was down through the summer and it was darting to rise

steadily now, but the vast majority of the covid deaths and the excess deaths happen in the first wave, 5500 out of 70,000, we really need to zoom in to see the trends right now because it is hard to see. we can show that viewers and you can see it is about, the red are the covid deaths, and we saw 2200 of those in the last week, that is up by about 600 on the previous week. that is doubling every fortnight, thatis that is doubling every fortnight, that is a familiar number because about a month ago cases were doubling every fortnight, and it's about now that we start to see that feed through into the deaths. i think we can hope that will slow down in the coming weeks because the growth in cases has slowed down, hospitalizations has slowed down, we can maybe expectancy a going down. the other thing we can know is that if we took away all of the covid deaths, the red area we were pointing at, would actually be saying a below average number of deaths for this time of year. so

those number of covid deaths we are saying all the time, they are going up, but when they feed through into this best measure of the death toll of the epidemic, the news isn't good, but not as bad as we expected it to be. thank you very much. and at half past four on the bbc news channel, we'll answer your questions on covid—19 vaccines... joining us will be cell biologist at university college london — jennifer rohn and university of cambridge virologist dr chris smith. do send your questions using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions or email them using yourquestions@bbc.co.uk borisjohnson has been criticised for reportedly calling devolution "a disaster" in scotland. during a call with a group of conservative mps, he is said to have described it as "tony blair's biggest mistake". scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, said the comments would be remembered the next time the tories insisted they were not a threat to the powers of the scottish parliament. the housing secretary, robertjenrick, insisted mrjohnson

supported devolution, but not when it was used by nationalists to try to break up the uk. the scottish national party mp drew hendry said he was not surprised by the prime minister's comments. clearly they are desperately spinning to try to get themselves back out of this revelation, but even if you take it at face value they are effectively saying it is ok for the scottish people to have devolution as long as they vote for the westminster party that we want them to vote for. i don't think that holds water. the scottish people have seen what has happened, they have been ignored throughout the brexit process, despite voting overwhelmingly to remain in the eu. they have seen all the actions of this infamous internal market bill, to strip powers from scotland and to give the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy the ability to overrule the scottish parliament on almost every aspect of scottish life, from public health to food standards, to the nhs,

transport and much more. they've seen all this happening, all these comments do is expose that wider audience. alistair carmichael is a liberal democrat mp and was scottish secretary between 2013 and 2015. welcome, what do you think about those comments? well, i think this is the moment for the scottish conservatives, their mouse to slip, it is the right of scotland have evolved parliament of their own. they were persuaded to embrace it, it was really effective than in persuading people that the party had changed and people who wanted to keep the united kingdom together could give their support to the conservatives, but in fact, i think today you see that that has well and

truly been sky by. it was true then, it is certainly not true today. we see a massive mitch match between what boris johnson see a massive mitch match between what borisjohnson says in public and what he says in private. and for the man who took to himself the title of minister for the union, you have to think, with friends like these, who really needs enemies. borisjohnson now these, who really needs enemies. boris johnson now is these, who really needs enemies. borisjohnson now is a bigger threat to the continuation of the united kingdom then the others could ever hope to be. do you not accept the clarification that has come from robertjenrick, he is opposed to the way that devolution is being used by the snp to try to lead to the break—up of the uk with? the snp to try to lead to the break-up of the uk with? there can be no conditions attached to your support for devolution, you're either in favour abate, or you are

not, you cannot say you are as long as they do not do this or the other, thatis as they do not do this or the other, that is a point of devolution. as minister for the that is a point of devolution. as ministerfor the union, that is a point of devolution. as minister for the union, it that is a point of devolution. as ministerfor the union, it boris johnson cannot accept that devolution is the settled will of the scottish people, then frankly, he shouldn't be in thatjob. really, if he is serious about keeping the union together, he should be looking at, not undermining what he has and what he has done with these statements, you should have factory looking to embracing devolution and saying what has worked well for scotland, wales or northern ireland and worked very well for other parts of england as well —— can work very well for other parts of england. i think that people in manchester know that when it comes to the handling of the covid pandemic, they have more trust and confidence in local politicians to do what is right for their communities there then they have for boris johnson

their communities there then they have for borisjohnson and the civil serva nts have for borisjohnson and the civil servants in whitehall. he has said that he would not agree to a second referendum on independence, the snp have made clear that they are likely to put it in their manifesto and they win the elections in may they will say that they have mandate for another. do you think borisjohnson can continue to resist the demands for a second referendum? boris johnson is not making it easier to resist the demands for another independence referendum, but in essence, the arguments do not change. people in scotland are weary with the division that they said debate has brought. they really don't want the uncertainty of yet more constitutional upheaval, and they generally feel the priorities for the uk they generally feel the priorities forthe uk and they generally feel the priorities for the uk and the scottish government, we really ought to be focusing on the real bidding —— rebuilding of the economy instead of

assessing about things like this. just hold your thought for a moment if that is ok, ijust want just hold your thought for a moment if that is ok, i just want to say goodbye to viewers watching us on bbc two. thanks for your company, see you soon. and just back to you, sorry to interrupt. talking about the prospect of a second referendum, you said that borisjohnson hasn't made his case any easier here. do you think that we will end up seeing the break—up? you think that we will end up seeing the break-up? no, i don't believe we will. and i believe that actually you won't see that because the continuation of the united kingdom is good for scotland and it's good for the rest of united kingdom. time after time... for the rest of united kingdom. time after time. .. polling indicates support, strong support. of course, polls, and polls go, they are never

consistent, we took the definitive poll in 2014, which was the independence referendum, something that the nationalist and 2012 agreed to the conditions of that being held that it was a once a new generation opportunity and they said at that point that they wanted to remain a pa rt point that they wanted to remain a part of the united kingdom. scotland is stronger in the united kingdom, the united kingdom is strongerfor having scotland a part of it. you have seen with brexit how messy things get when you start to break it up. the last thing that britain or scotland needs now is more constitutional chaos, we need to focus on good government and rebuilding our economy. that is what people in scotland really want. thank you very much, we're going to talk more about the polling now with sirjohn curtis.

sirjohn curtice is professor of politics at strathclyde university. what are the indications right now? 0n the subject of whether or not would vote yes or no to independence, we have now had 30 opinion polls and a role —— in a row, dating from summer, all of which show a majority for yes. the first time in scottish polling history that we have had that kind of record, and on average, they suggested 54% for yes. so yes, polls come and go, but for now they have gone very come and go, but for now they have gone very consistently in the direction of independence. what about the point that he was making about the point that he was making about brexit, which we are seeing u nfold about brexit, which we are seeing unfold before our eyes and saying that that has shown how messy the unpacking of unions can be and that that would not be in the interests of scotla nd that would not be in the interests of scotland or england. putting the union aside, the problems for unions

was back in 2014, one of the arguments of the independence referendum was whether or not scotla nd referendum was whether or not scotland could continue as a member of the european union if it voted yes, it said no, the membership would be under threat. scotland now finds itself outside of the european union having voted no. in the polling is pretty clear that in fact one of the reasons why we do now have a majority for yes in the polls eighth after brexit, the initial increase in support was evidenced in the polls last year through the beginning of this year occurred entirely amongst those who voted remain. whatever your preferences about what should happen or how you would like the world to be, i think any politician on both sides of the argument has to accept that the pursuit of brexit has actually undermined support for scotland's continued membership of the united kingdom. and what about the points

made by boris johnson kingdom. and what about the points made by borisjohnson and the impact of those with nicola sturgeon saying that he is absolutely shown what he thinks about devolution, and therefore people should support the snp at they want devolution. doesn't make the situation worse, in other words, going against what he wants? i don't think it is going to make it any easierfor those i don't think it is going to make it any easier for those on the union side of the argument to achieve what has to be done, their initial object, to deny the s&p and overall majority in the applause election. although boris johnson mayfield that it is been a disaster, we are mayfield that it is been a disaster, we a re pretty mayfield that it is been a disaster, we are pretty sceptical about the early years, we are pretty sceptical about the early yea rs, we we are pretty sceptical about the early years, we think that there

been more influence in devolution, and we are much more likely to think that that evolved in —— developed institutions are going to be looking after their own interest, and 10% of people now that there should not be a scottish parliament. 0ne people now that there should not be a scottish parliament. one of the arguments about the internal market spell, apart from those controversial clauses about the northern ireland protocol, is that some of the things that would otherwise happened evolved to the devolved parliaments as a resort of leaving the european union aren't that going to stay with london, the snp have been arguing that this a power grab. i think the other two struggled to get the public to understand this issue, because it is a rather complicated one, these remarks are from borisjohnson enable the snp to highlight this issue and a much clearer way than they have been able to do so far. as things currently stand, how do you potentially see things unfolding? do

you think that borisjohnson will be able to continue to resist a second independence referendum if the snp windbag in the elections in may? and if one were to happen, do you think it would result in the break—up of the united kingdom?” it would result in the break—up of the united kingdom? i think it is perfectly reasonable for the union aside to argue between now and next we'll make that there should be another referendum entered in may, and while it is easy to argue that your political opponents should keep the promise they made, you cannot argue that the elections are necessarily bounded by those promises. and if the majority of people vote for the snp next year, in an election, which at the moment looks as though people are going to vote almost entirely on the lines of whether they are yes or no to independence. the question that many people have to face is, given back

in 2011 and snp majority was regarded as sufficient for holding a referendum, if you're not willing to accept the evidence, what evidence with the uk government except that the public, not the snp, by the public have changed their minds? given that their governments have long accepted that scotland does have the right to leave the union if it so wishes, i think at that point if the snp has majority, it would be difficult and not in the interests of the union side to hold off a referendum being held for too long. and then if there were a referendum? polls say that the aside are ahead, there is no guarantee they would win, think one of the things to realise is that lot of things have changed and some of the arguments that we use on both sides would no longer work, would no longer be valid. and indeed, scotland has frankly not been worrying about

independence, like everywhere else, they've been worrying about the coronavirus. who knows what would happen in the end, there would need to bea happen in the end, there would need to be a substantial debate, maybe the polls would turn back again, but i think frankly, there is a 50% chance that if there were to be a referendum, that scotland and the next two or three years would indeed vote to leave the union. that is much depending now on exactly how exit pans out, which indicates that it is one of the considerations driving the support. thank you very much. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's 0lly foster. good afternoon. a virtual summit on the ‘future of football‘ will be hosted by culture secretary 0liver dowden today. equality and diversity, and the women‘s game will all be discussed. also high on the agenda will be plans for a financial bailout for lower league clubs and the return of fans to grounds.

we are being told that it is probably early next march before we can let supporters end, we have to do everything we can to make people feel safe and secure, giving the government confidence that we can provide these 19 met stadiums. and some of the systems that we have put in place, whether that is one way systems, socially distant pizza, closing the bars, testing and tracing people, temperature checks as they come in, all of those things i hope would build towards us allowing the supporters to come in. two former umpires have accused the england and wales cricket board of "institutionalised racism". john holder, who retired 11 years ago, says it looked "more than suspicious". he had not received a reply from the ecb when offering to be a mentor at the organisation. ismail dawood, meanwhile, claims that racist language used in front of senior ecb staff, has gone unchallenged. the pair have asked for an independent investigation

from the equality and human rights commission. the ecb say they have commissioned a review to look at how they can reform their approach to managing match officials. england‘s proposed tour to pakistan early next year won‘t go ahead now. they are also due to face india and sri lanka in the new year and couldn‘t gurantee being able to field a full strength team. england have arrived in south africa ahead of their first tour since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. they will play three international t20 matches and three one—day internationals. the matches will be played in cape town and paarl with players again having to remain in biosecure bubbles. it‘s been a good day for the england captain heather knight in the women‘s big bash in australia. she made an unbeaten 58 off 32 balls, and hit a six off the last ball of the match, to help sydney thunder to an 8 wicket win over melbourne renegades. the victory lifts the thunder into a play off position. scrum—half natasha hunt has returned to the england rugby union squad

for saturday‘s rematch against france at twickenham. hunt missed england‘s grand slam—clinching win over italy at the start of november after testing positive for coronavirus. loughborough‘s abbie brown and hunt‘s club team—mate ellena perry have also been called up. a strong second—half performance helped england to a 33—10 win over france in grenoble last weekend. that‘s all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website including all the build up to tennis‘ atp finals. rafa nadal takes on dominic thiem from 2 o clock, and you can watch it across the bbc. easyjet has posted its first ever annual loss following a slump in demand for travel because of the pandemic. the airline said it lost almost £1.3 billion during the year to the end of september. i‘ve been speaking to our business presenter ben thompson, who put those losses into context for us.

no great surprise that the airline has been forced to such a heavy loss, its planes were grounded for 11 weeks during that first lockdown. and since then, flying atjust maybe 20% of normal capacity. telling us this morning that that will continue well into next year, although there is hope that bookings for summer of 2021 could be looking up, but remember, that relies on things like better testing, maybe a vaccine, and also better rules and optimism amongst passengers to feel safe and get away. let‘s speak to the chief executive of easyjet, johan lundgren, he joins me from their headquarters. good morning to you, sum up this year for us if you can. how has it been, how is it looking? a loss of nearly £1.3 billion, but perhaps not a great surprise given the state of the airline market right now.

yes, it is not a surprise, it has been an extraordinarily difficult year, as you can imagine. the industry has been hit the hardest it's ever been in modern times, and that is reflected in these numbers. but i think we have taken a lot of action trying to mitigate the situation. we reduced the cost, we are managing the cash burn, we got access to liquidities, really making sure that we can come through this in a way where we also can be able to recover quickly, as we see the news coming in on the vaccine and testing and also refinement of the quarantine measures. all in all, we also see that there is a strong demand for travel, it is really the restrictions that is dampening that demand at the moment. so let‘s talk about some of the issues about how you have navigated the worst of this.

i know back in may you announced plans to cut maybe 30% of your workforce, you have also been making use of government loan schemes to help you get through, how deep are your pockets? how big are those cash reserves to get you through to getting back to some sort of normality? because many say 2021, maybe a few more passengers, but we are not likely to see demand bounce back until at least 2023. on the liquidity, we were early in terms of getting access to that, so since everything started we have raised over £31 billion of liquidity. the 30th of september was just over 3.3 billion pounds, so we have to make sure that we continue to evaluate all the options and the alternatives that are available. because we still don't know yet when we are going through the pandemic phase into the recovery phase, back into a regrowth phase, and you're right to point out that

most industry commentators and ourselves believe that it will take up until 2023 probably before we come back to the 2019 levels. but i must stress that we are seeing increasingly a pent—up demand for people to fly. when the canaries was removed from the list of quarantines, in that week, bookings were up almost 900%. it's also evidence that as long as this continues, it actually increases the pent—up demand, because ultimately people want to fly and go on their holiday and do bookings, but the restrictions, for the right reasons that we are well aware about and agree with, but those in place decrease the demand. but as soon as the vaccine comes into play, the effective testing come into place,

the refined quarantine procedures, not needing to quarantine for 14 days, perhaps five, all of those things will help boost the confidence of people to fly. and in that position, we will be ready and available to bounce back very quickly , and in that position, we will be ready. i want to ask you, you wrote to the prime minister this morning offering help with the distribution and also being able to administer the vaccine if and when that becomes available on a widespread basis. just explain this and how your staff might be able to help. yes, first of all, in terms of the aircraft, we have the largest fleet of aircraft in the uk, so those would be available in order to distribute the vaccine. also we have people, we have up to 4000 people of our fantastic crews that are trained in first aid, and they were also part and helped out with the initial phases

phases of the pandemic, the nightengale hospitals so they would be able and ready to assist in any way we can in order to get the roll—out of the vaccination programmes doone in an efficient way. so that was my message to the prime minister, working together to get a programme in place of the vaccination, because that would also help the industry that we are in. really interesting, we will stay in touch with you about whether you get a response to that and what could happen next. the chief executive of easyjet, grateful for your time this morning. and as you heard there, so many moving parts, lockdown, the tier system, testing, travel core doors, lockdown, the tier system, testing, travel, and the vaccine that could make things a bit more like normal. but as you were hearing, so many moving parts that mean things will not get back to normal

for a very long time. easyjet operating just 20% of its normal capacity right now, and it could take until 2023 until things get back to normal, assuming that things do bounce back. maybe some of our habits like business and travel may have changed forever. volunteers from st john ambulance will support nhs staff in delivering a coronavirus vaccine programme when a vaccination becomes available. in just seven days, two potential coronavirus vaccines have provided real hope of normality returning. both are yet to be approved — but the moderna vaccine early data suggests it‘s 95% effective at protecting against covid. richard lee is the chief operating officer for stjohn ambulance and joins me now. thank you forjoining us. what will your role be in the rolling out of vaccinations? here at st john

ambulance we are preparing our trained volunteers, our first hairdos, advance first aiders, health care professionals, people that would normally be looking after you and communities at around 20,000 events this year. we are preparing them to play a role in supporting nhs staff who will be providing vaccinations. the role is notjust about delivering the vaccines, administering the vaccine is directly, but training members of the public who are ready to sign up to actually administer the vaccine is to people with no medical background at all. we will be providing people to a range of roles across the process of people attending for vaccination in a number of settings. not all of those roles well in cloud providing vaccination to patients, many of the rules will be around supporting people as they go through the process of having vaccination for flu orfor process of having vaccination for flu or for covert because people need support. this is a frightening

time for people and there are patient groups were one—to—one support is required and we are providing a range of people from advocates through to support workers, through to some of our people who will be administering vaccinations. well that involve training people without a medical background? yes. we are fundamentally a training organisation. we train around 250,000 people every year who have no previous knowledge, we train them in first no previous knowledge, we train them infirstaid no previous knowledge, we train them in first aid to equip them to deal with some very serious emergencies in the workplace and in communities. through this programme we will train first of all our 10,000 already trained clinical volunteers. they will have additional training to go into service in a vaccination programme. then we will move on to recruiting volunteers from outside stjohn ambulance, from a range of other voluntary organisations, making sure they got the requisite skills to function any vaccination centre. what would the criteria be for people who might think of doing

that? there is a range of criteria for different roles, ranging from the advocate rolls through to the vaccinators. we are working to the nhs england‘s specifications. 0ur people will meet the same criteria as nhs people who will be doing this work. they will have gone through the same training if they are fulfilling the same role. it made headlines this morning, didn‘t it, that there will be non—medical staff trained up to administer the covid vaccine? it is an eye—catching headline. it may make people wonder whether how comfortable they are with that. how much skill is required to correctly administer a vaccine? does it require skill to make it more or less painful, for instance? our volunteers are trained well for the roles they do. since march this year, we have provided

over 220,000 hours of support to the nhs in nightingale hospitals, creating emergency ambulances, we have attended over 6000 999 call since march. we have got volunteers today across the country in emergency departments providing support. there is skill and every clinical task, but has a large clinical task, but has a large clinical training organisation, we are well prepared to teach people the skills they need to safely undertake tasks throughout this vaccination programme. that includes administering an injection to a patient, yes. thank you very much indeed forjoining us. let‘s get more now on the controversy surrounding the prime minister comments about scotland devolution — which borisjohnson called a ‘disaster‘. during a meeting with conservative mps, he described it as ‘tony blair‘s biggest mistake‘. labour and the snp have both criticised mrjohnson, but ministers insist he supports devolution. the leader of the scottish conservative party, douglas ross, has distanced himself from borisjohnson‘s remarks

insisting "devolution has not been a disaster". well, we do not know what was said, it was in a meeting where there have been reports. i am saying very clearly devolution is not the problem, the problem is the snp scottish government, and having the levers of power and not using them to benefit people right across scotland. that does come back to the services people rely on day in, day out. is borisjohnson a disaster for your efforts to try and win ground from the snp and to try and keep the uk together? my efforts are absolutely focused on holding this snp government to account because they have failed and let down many parts of scotland. any other discussion is a distraction from the key aim that we have, to improve services right across the country. these are all services that the snp have been in charge of and in control of for 13 and a half years, so if there are these substantial failings in education, that is a result of snp msps

and ministers decisions. the problems we have got with hospitals being built that cannot take a patient is because of decisions taken by snp ministers. these are issues that we have to focus on. the fact that local government is not getting the funding to support the added work that the scottish government expects them to do, the fact that we have got a snp scottish government that is very centralising and not looking to give powers right across scotland. these are all issues we need to focus on and that has to be the priority for this election campaign and for the next five years as we get beyond covid, hopefully, and get the virus under control, and we look at the economic response to the challenges that we have faced over the last eight months. let‘s speak now to the labour mp and shadow scottish secretary, ian murray. welcome, thank you very much for joining us. has borisjohnson given a shot in the arm to the campaign for scottish independence?” a shot in the arm to the campaign for scottish independence? i have been saying for some time that this

conservative, and ironically unionist, party are bigger than any nationalist to the threat of the union. we have a prime minister in the conservative party that does not believe in devolution and never has. we have a scottish national party that does not believe in devotion because they want to break up the uk. you have two parties that do not believe anything that delivers politics and policies for the scottish people, there is only going to be one loser in that, that is the people of scotland. the communities secretary has tried to clarify what he says borisjohnson actually met. he has said he is not opposed to devolution, but what he is opposed to is the snp and the efforts to break up the uk. is that fair enough? what he is trying to do is defend the indefensible. anything that has to be clarified is obviously something that has been set incorrectly. the conservative party did not believe in devolution, they have undermined devolution at every single step of this boris johnson premiership. without the on english laws, whether it be on the

uk internal market bill. there has never been any partnership between the scottish and uk governments. the grown—ups need to take charge and try and create that partnership. there was a poll that showed nearly 70% of the public were incredibly decisive fight that the governments do not work together. two parties that do not believe in revolution, it is little wonder. we have to get back to the place whereby we are using the powers of the scottish government. many which are not used by the snp. dealing with the priorities of the scottish people, schools, hospitals, jobs, economy, all of those big issues that people ca re all of those big issues that people care about, rather than this grievous agenda that the scottish and uk agendas have by constantly fighting with each other. should the government continue to say no to a second independence referendum? the constitutional law says very clearly, under section five of the 1998 scotland act, that the granting ofa 1998 scotland act, that the granting of a referendum has to happen at

westminster by the granting of a section 30 transfer of powers to scottish parliament. we are going to an election next year, where the priorities of the people in poll after poll, schools, hospitals, police, economy, people‘sjobs and livelihoods, those have to be the priorities. for us to try and turn next year‘s election into a referendum on whether to have a referendum on whether to have a referendum just goes right to the heart of what the prime minister‘s just said. that is exactly what it will be, isn‘t it? the snp want there to be a second referendum. if they win in those elections, they will say that they have a mandate for it. borisjohnson has said currently, even if that were to happen, he would not agree to a referendum. do you think you will be able to maintain that position? do you think there should be a referendum in that context? let the conservatives and the snp fight over that. it goes to the heart of what this whole interview is about. let us use this whole interview is about. let us use the scottish parliament,

which is one of the most powerful devolved governments in the world to try and change the lives of scottish people. whilst we have the snp government undermining devolution by wanting to wrench scotland out of the uk and fighting over a flag, and the uk and fighting over a flag, and the uk and fighting over a flag, and the uk government undermining devolution and fighting over another flood, all of these big issues are going to be undermined. the constitution paralysis that is co nsta ntly constitution paralysis that is constantly happening in scotland means we cannot get on to talking about these big issues and that is why we are on this problem in the first place. you are opposed to there being a second referendum, you do not want scottish independence, are we closer to it, though, as a result of where we are now? what the labour party have said and what we have consistently said, i do have to say that actually rather than being one of the worst things that tony blairdid, one of the worst things that tony blair did, delivering devolution, it was probably one of the greatest su ccesses was probably one of the greatest successes of the previous labour government. things do move on, the status quo is indefensible at the moment in terms of the way that

westminster operates. independence would be incredibly bad post for scotla nd would be incredibly bad post for scotland and the rest of the uk. we have to come up with a platform that shows that we can progress devolution, if power is closer to the people, so that we can cover for a post—general election across the whole of the uk, of which england is a key component. that is what the labour party will be taking forward, thatis labour party will be taking forward, that is what your star has been talking about since he was elected leader back in april. we are really excited about the prospect of not having to defend this broken status quo and not having to defend the folly of independence. thank you very much. mps will hear evidence today from frontline nhs staff and careworkers about how they coped during the pandemic. there‘s concern many have suffered burnout under the strain. well, joining us now is dr andrew molodynski from the british medical association. welcome. thank you very much for joining us. can you describe for us

the pressures on the staff who are dealing with covid on the front line and the impact of that? the pressures a re and the impact of that? the pressures are immense. they vary, obviously, for doctors and nurses in different parts of the nhs, but on the front line people are working very long shifts, they are having changes of working patterns at very short notice, people are very worried about seeing their friends at work, becoming unwell, they are worried about catching covid themselves. probably more often i hear they are worried about taking it home to their family and loved ones, he may be more vulnerable. this is all alongside witnessing, sadly, a realfast pace of this is all alongside witnessing, sadly, a real fast pace of people dying of covid, which is at a pace we are not used to in peacetime.” know that you have identified that there are now high levels of burn—out and mental health problems in the doctors that you have spoken to who were dealing with these issues, suffering... showing signs of mental health problems including

depression and ptsd. are these people going off sick? generally not. we have large surveys which are pretty robust, up to 5000 doctors at a time, who are reporting levels of burn—out, about 75% or more. levels of mental health problems that are approaching 50%. sickness rates among doctors remain really quite low. we are very bad, unfortunately, is seeking help for ourselves, we tend to just carry on. where does that lead? is tend to just carry on. where does that lead ? is it tend to just carry on. where does that lead? is it storing up problems for the future? as this a sustainable position? no, it is not sustainable. people are still fatigued and tired and fed up after the first wave of covid. the catch up the first wave of covid. the catch up operations, we are now entering the second way. some people, of all types, nhs are moving forwards with symptoms, with reduced well—being, thatis

symptoms, with reduced well—being, that is only going to get worse u nless we that is only going to get worse unless we pay attention to it pretty urgently. both with individuals and asa urgently. both with individuals and as a country under system. what support is on offer? and even with the support on offer, you mentioned it seems that there is sometimes a relu cta nce it seems that there is sometimes a reluctance to actually take that support. yes. most nhs employers have occupational health departments and have set up helplines for staff. these are very welcome things. the difficulty is that the demand is such upon the services that it is difficult for them to provide enough ca re difficult for them to provide enough care for enough people. so, what does need to happen is a fairly rapid increase in the capacity of systems, both to improve the well—being of staff, which can reduce the chances of people becoming ill, and then crucially for staff that have become ill, that there are very clear and rapid pathways for them to get the care they need so that they feel better.

equally so that they can come back to work and pitching in this crisis. 0nce someone goes beyond the limits of what they can actually cope with, it can be a long and slow process to get things back. how worried are you about the prospect of staff who are really struggling not actually getting the support that they need to try to prevent them getting to that point? we are very worried. we are calling on employers and have been for some time to do some very basic things. simply providing a decent working environment where people who are working long shifts can rest and quiet places, can have food, and can have time so that they can talk with colleagues and more experienced colleagues to offer mentoring and support. things that one would expect we would not need to be talking about in 2020, but we know that these things can all help and help slow down the progression of burn—out and other psychological

symptoms. they are urgently needs to be attention given and provision made for the care of health workers and social care workers who have become ill because of the things they have had to deal with in 2020. how would you describe what they are dealing with? it is something that we just dealing with? it is something that wejust did not dealing with? it is something that we just did not foresee. it is something people could not have prepared for, presumably, on the front line. we all sign up for working in the nhs in the knowledge that sadly we will spend a lot of ourtime that sadly we will spend a lot of our time with people who are in the final stages of their life. no one makes any pretence about that, but what is different here is that there are vast numbers of people who are coming into hospital, and u nfortu nately coming into hospital, and unfortunately passing away quite quickly. also in very difficult and scary circumstances for everybody concerned. that is something that health workers are not used to increase time. thank you very much indeed forjoining us.

the headlines on bbc news: the health secretary says he can‘t confirm which restrictions will be in place once the lockdown in england ends at the beginning of next month, amid reports the tier system could be strengthened. it comes as latest figures show the number of deaths from covid in england and wales continues to rise for the ninth successive week. the scottish government is set to announce that the toughest covid restrictions will be imposed across west scotland. lewis hamilton has been named as the most influential black briton. the formula 1 driverfrom stevenage joins marcus rashford and stormzy on the powerlist 2021. the regional director for public health england, professor kevin fenton, has also made the list. dame donna kinnair, chief executive and general secretary of the royal college of nursing, also made the list, at number six — and shejoins me now. thank you so much forjoining us.

congratulations. what does it mean to you to be on the list? it has been a huge honour, and actually it means to my children that i am very cool now amongst lewis hamilton and storm a. that is very true! this yea rs best storm a. that is very true! this years best honours the top ten, of which you are in there, honours people who have spoken truth to power at a time of increased debate, and racialjustice. power at a time of increased debate, and racial justice. how power at a time of increased debate, and racialjustice. how would you describe your part in that? certainly this year, for nursing, is no other year, the year of the nurse and midwife 2020, we have seen a massive fight or effort against 0vett at 19. it was absolutely vital and important for me that nurses had the right equipment and right conditions to help them with the fight against this pandemic. you

said in may that workers on the front line of the health profession through this should have the ability to ask to actually step back after evidence emerged that bame people are ata evidence emerged that bame people are at a higher risk of dying from covid. what ended up happening from that? has that been the case in many insta nces that? has that been the case in many instances that people have actually taken that up? interestingly, many bame nurses or bame workers did not choose to step back, but what we asked for was for them to be properly risk assessed, to actually have the right equipment to be able to carry out their roles, and also to carry out their roles, and also to make sure that the risk assessment identified any underlying conditions that would exacerbate them catching covid—19. conditions that would exacerbate them catching covid-19. are you happy with the way that was managed? was it properly delivered?” happy with the way that was managed? was it properly delivered? i think there were a variety of ways it was

delivered across the country. but i certainly know that the nhs heard our call for this and actually insisted that risk assessments took place. how do you say the situation now? would you... there still a need for you to put that message out there or do you think it is being properly done? i think it is always needed to put the message out there. partly because we need to ensure that it happens for everybody. some of the situation that we were in in may, you will know that covid—19 has not gone away, although we welcome a vaccine on the horizon, people are still putting their best foot forward to deal with this virus. so it is really important that their health and safety is put first. i will keep on advocating and keep on speaking to power to afford nurses

and other health care workers be adequate protection they need. do you think that 2020 has been a year of transformation? it is the year, of transformation? it is the year, of course, when the black lives matter movement really came to the fore. i think the transformation has still yet to happen. it is wonderful receiving this acknowledgement and the pwc power list purpose award, it is wonderful. but actually we do know that there are still many nurses from the bame communities that are not getting the recognition that are not getting the recognition that they need. what we do need is a pipeline of sustainability so that those people can achieve promotions and recognition in the same way that some of us do. dame donna kinnair, thank you forjoining us. standing alongside the likes of lewis hamilton in doing good for the community. thank you. the uk supermarkets tesco,

sainsbury‘s and marks and spencer say they are reviewing working practices at one of their indian suppliers after a bbc investigation found evidence workers were being exploited. women at the factory which makes home textiles for the brands said they were forced to work excessive hours, and weren‘t even allowed toilet breaks. the bbc also heard claims of poor working conditions from staff at an indian supplier to ralph lauren. the american brand has said it will investigate. 0ur south asia correspondent rajini vaidya nathan reports. in the world of fashion, they are the forgotten — the women who make our clothes. a million miles from the catwalk, they often live in dire poverty. their monthly salaries barely enough to feed their families. but these women produce garments for some of the world‘s biggest brands. ralph‘s talent, beyond creating beautiful things, is his talent to recognise people. ralph lauren‘s clothes don‘t come cheap, but the women we spoke to say they are paying a far higher price. workers at one south indian factory

which supplies the label earn as little as £2.50 a day, making clothes that sell for hundreds. they say they are forced to work punishing hours to finish orders, and even end up sleeping on the factory floor. translation: we are made to work continuously, often through the night. sleeping at 3am, then waking up by 5 for another full day of work. 0ur bosses don‘t care, they are only bothered about production. translation: they ask us to work so late, i can't even feed my children at night. they shouldn't treat us like slaves, they should give us respect. in a statement, ralph lauren said it was deeply concerned by the allegations and will investigate. the factory concerned has denied all allegations. we also talked to female staff at another indian supplier

which produces home furnishings for big british brands such as tesco, marks & spencer and sainsbury‘s. speaking from their village, the women told us they are made to work in appalling conditions which would be unthinkable to employees at the same brand in the uk. translation: we are not given time to drink water. we are not given time to even use the bathroom. we barely get time to eat lunch. translation: they have increased our workload. we are forced to stay late to finish it or they yell at us and threaten to fire us. we are scared. in statements, all three supermarkets said they were shocked and troubled to hear the reports. sainsbury‘s said it is insisting on a number of actions that the supplier must take in order for us to continue to work with them. tesco has told us that plan includes prohibiting excessive overtime, strengthening grievance procedures, and ensuring workers are fully compensated at the correct rates

for the hours they have worked. while marks & spencer said it has a robust plan in place and would be undertaking regular unannounced audits to ensure its implementation. earlier in the year, there was an outcry after allegations of exploitation emerged in british factories supplying the fashion label boohoo. but activists say the bigger issue lies in asia where most of our clothes are made. exploitation happens for people who make our clothes around the world on a regular basis, but it is out of view and people aren‘t engaging with who those people are, but brands really have a responsibility to look at what is happening in their supply chains and say, are those people being treated fairly or are they being exploited? as consumers chase cheaper clothes and brands bank bigger profits, it seems that the exploitation of the women who make them is one thing that hasn‘t gone out of fashion.

simon is going to be here in a few minutes with the one o‘clock news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with carol. it is going to be a male day—to—day but for many of us it is also going to fairly cloudy. we have some rain across western scotland, following for some time, some of that getting into northern ireland. easing as we going into the afternoon but remaining cloudy. for western areas, a lot of clout with some drizzle and market conditions. temperatures and any breaks in the cloud across north—east scotland could get up to 17—18. through this evening and overnight, we continue with blustery winds, the rain getting into the north of scotland, more coming into the west of the uk, as well. a lot of cloud, but it is going to be a mild night. a male start the day tomorrow, but still

all this rain in the north and west still blustery, and that rain continuing to push eastwards as we go through the day. behind it, temperatures will start to fall and we will see a return to brighter skies, but also a fair few showers. temperature, 16.

are we headed for a winter lockdown? with some restrictions described as inadequate, calls for tougher covid tiers when england‘s lockdown ends. as new measures are about to be introduced in scotland, fears that england‘s scheduled lifting of restrictions may not be possible. mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests but of course we remain vigilant. well, soon he has to make a decision on the future of the lockdown, so the earlier we get that information, the better. covid deaths rise for the ninth week in a row. 2,225 died in the uk last week alone, up by more than 600 the week before. so, how festive is this christmas likely to be? i‘ll be talking to our health editor. also this lunchtime.